Province tries to reassure northern township set to receive radioactive materials

While Ontario has been working on a plan to transport and store radioactive waste in the tailing facilities near Nairn and Hyman for years, the township only learned of it last month. 

The lack of communication fuelled mistrust in the project among some residents, prompting leadership from this community 40 minutes west of Sudbury to hold a public meeting with ministerial managers and experts on Wednesday.

"I think the province acknowledges that we could have been here sooner and shared information more freely," said Ministry of Transportation area manager Darren Stephenson.

"We can't undo that at this point, but we're here because we've heard there are concerns," he added. 

The public meeting included a presentation from Ministry of Mines manager Jean Guindon. 

He explained how the Agnew Lake Mine tailings located some 20 kilometres away from the centre of Nairn and Hyman township currently hold radioactive uranium waste, and detailed the testing the province carried out since taking over the facility in the early 1990s. 

"This site was built to be safe, even for recreational use like fishing and hunting," he said, but added that some of the topsoil has eroded over time, because of wind, water, vegetation and all-terrain vehicles, among other things. 

According to Guindon, the Ministry of Mines has regularly carried out radiation surveys, inspections, water sampling and environmental risk assessments at the site over the years.

Some areas in the tailings already have unsafe levels of radiation

He said that an inspection in 2020 revealed there are areas within the former Agnew Lake Mine tailings where radiation levels exceed the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) regulatory limits for casual site users, such as those who hunt, camp or hike through the area.

For the facility's CNSC licence to be renewed in 2025, those areas need to be covered, he added.

This is where the low level radioactive waste from a niobium mill abandoned in the 1950s near Nipissing First Nation comes in. 

That rock material was recently excavated from the community's roads and residential areas after a decade-old environmental remediation project and is being stored on a nearby Ministry of Transportation property as the province finalizes plans to relocate it.

"Uranium has a higher rate of radiation than niobium," said Guindon. "The material we're bringing in [to the former Agnew Lake Mine tailings] is within the nuclear licence that we hold."

He adds that adding niobium waste to the existing uranium waste could help repair and thicken the existing cover of the tailings. 

The plan involves 16 custom-made trucks with specialized tarps, transition zones with sediment fences, disposable personal protective equipment, waterless decontamination and a designated haul route.

Lack of communication criticized 

Several residents who attended the public meeting were not reassured by the province's presentations. 

Manitoulin Island resident Samuel Gilchrist, who traps in the area near the tailings, said he would like to see the studies that have guided this plan.

"I want to know what evidence is there to suggest that niobium is an appropriate shield for uranium? Has it been done somewhere else? Is that the standard? Is that the best practice?" he asked. 

Gilchrist, along with several others, criticized the province for not consulting with the First Nations in the area. 

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Transportation, however, said meetings were held with the leadership of Atikameksheng Anishnawbek, Sagamok Anishnawbek and Serpent River. 

He also added that the City of Greater Sudbury and private road owners were consulted about the route that will be used to transport the radioactive waste. 

The province says it will prepare an information package for residents in the weeks to come. 

Meanwhile, those living in the townships have begun a petition asking Queen's Park to halt the project and hold more consultations. 

The Ministry of Mines had previously said it intended to begin hauling in the waste in September, but on Wednesday night they clarified they still need approval from the CNSC to begin the process of relocating the waste.