After the second peaceful opposition rally in as many weeks in front of Thunder\u00a0Bay City Hall, a Council vote regarding a resolution to send a letter to the Nuclear Waste\u00a0Management Organization urging them to pursue the option of managing used nuclear fuel\u00a0waste closer to the reactor stations where the waste has been\u00a0generated and is currently\u00a0stored, thereby avoiding transportation of nuclear waste in Thunder Bay, failed in a tie.<\/p>\n
The vote followed on the acceptance of the motion by Council at the Committee of the Whole\u00a0meeting on Aug. 26, but rules of order required a second vote. Mary Veltri of Environment\u00a0North and Charles Faust of Nuclear Free Thunder Bay made\u00a0\u00a0deputations at the Aug. 26 meeting.<\/p>\n
“This is not over,” said Faust. “We might have lost the motion on a tie, but the debate finally\u00a0having made it to the Council floor mobilized more people in the last four weeks than in the\u00a0previous four years. We won the original motion two weeks ago against the odds and today\u00a0after NWMO put everything they had on the table, we lost to a tie vote. Six of twelve members\u00a0of council stood up for the concerns of Thunder Bay residents.”<\/p>\n
Mary Veltri said, “So many Thunder Bay residents persistently voicing their opposition to the\u00a0NWMO proposal is a clear indication that they care deeply about the risks to human health and\u00a0the environment of having high-level nuclear waste buried in our region. Our community has\u00a0been unfairly shut out from the NWMO consultation process, so asking our City Council to\u00a0speak up on our behalf was an obvious and reasonable course of action. One of the most\u00a0important roles for City Council is to represent its constituents and the well-being and interests\u00a0of our city.”<\/p>\n
“Having Canada’s nuclear waste repository built in our region is not a vision for the future of\u00a0Northwestern Ontario that inspires me,” Veltri said. “What makes this area special is the boreal\u00a0forest that surrounds us with its intact ecosystems and freshwater rivers and lakes. It plays a\u00a0crucial role in mitigating the impacts of climate change. Rather than linking our\u00a0 economic\u00a0development to storing Canada’s nuclear waste, Thunder Bay could become a leader in\u00a0advancing clean, sustainable and renewable energy. We will continue to bring our concerns\u00a0forward to our elected representatives at all levels of government and let them know that we\u00a0do not want a nuclear waste repository in our region. ”<\/p>\n
Opposition groups contend that nuclear fuel waste should not be transported great distances\u00a0and imposed on northern communities, including First Nations, with attendant risks to the\u00a0environment. As a safer model, groups advocate for continued but improved surface\u00a0containment at or near the reactor sites, allowing time for robust research and the\u00a0development of improved management techniques.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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