Nairn residents demand halt to radioactive waste storage plan

After learning of a plan to transport low-grade radioactive material to a former mine property in the area, residents of Nairn Centre and surrounding communities are demanding that the project be halted.

Belinda Ketchabaw, the chief administrative officer (CAO) of the Townships of Nairn and Hyman, said the concern about the transportation of low-grade radioactive material associated with niobium is serious enough that all municipalities across Northeastern Ontario are being notified.

In addition, the local municipalities are protesting to the province and demanding that the project be put on hold until people are properly notified and have a chance to provide input. 

Ketchabaw was commenting on the recent revelation that there is a plan to transport several tonnes of naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) from an abandoned niobium ore processing mill near the Nipissing First Nation. 

A Change.org petition rallying against the project has now been signed by close to 900 people.

Niobium is known as a transition metal added to improve the properties of stainless steel, according to science journals. 

Some residents of Nairn Centre and surrounding communities, west of Sudbury, spoke out Monday night about a plan to transport the old tailings from the First Nation lands to the former Agnew Lake Mines property, which carried out uranium mining in the 1970s and 1980s.  

It is now known as the Agnew Lake Tailings Management Area, licensed to the Ontario Ministry of Mines.

The old mine was decommissioned and capped. The site was turned over to the Ontario government in the 1990s.

The material to be shipped out from Nipissing First Nation is tailings and other rocky material left over from the former Nova Beaucage mine site.

The Nipissing First Nation website said the plan is part of a three-way "partnership between Nipissing First Nation, Indigenous Services Canada, and the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) to remove contaminated soil from the former Nova Beaucage Mine site in the community of Yellek, the MTO lands next to the Anishinabek Nation head office on Highway 17, and other areas across the First Nation. Once the material is removed, the sites will be restored to a natural state," said the website.

The plan to move the material to Nairn Centre was outlined in detail at a town hall meeting held in Nairn Centre Monday night with Mayor Amy Mazey and council.  The meeting was recorded and can be seen on YouTube.

Also speaking out was Coun. Trevor McVey, deputy mayor of Hyman Township, who said that he was told more than 1,300 truckloads of material are to be shipped over Northern highways to the Agnew Lake tailings area.  

McVey said that was concerning to himself and others because municipal officials only found out about bits and pieces of the plan in July and before that no one was aware of the plan.

He added that it appears other municipalities were also not advised of the plan.

"I don't think we've had a response from Sudbury at all," said McVey. "We've got no response from Sudbury, so whether they knew or didn't know, we don't know."

McVey said information provided to council was that the project actually began in 2015, and the plan is now in its final stages and the trucking of the material could begin within days or weeks.

Another speaker was Baldwin Township Mayor Vern Gorham. Baldwin is another small community located on Highway 17, near McKerrow.  

"This is a good news story for the Nipissing First Nation," said Gorham. He said it was a safety and health concern for the First Nation and no one is trying to take away from that.

He said what he wants are some assurances because the Agnew Lake mine property has been poorly maintained over the years.

"Going forward we need assurances that the site will be maintained if it (material) is going to be put there, or if it (material) is going to be put there at all.

"We need public consultation as well," said Gorham. 

McVey also told the meeting he was advised that shipping of the old tailings would not happen until a formal consultation meeting was held with the municipality.  

In a joint news release issued Tuesday, the Township of Nairn and Hyman and the Township of Baldwin said the idea of shipping the tailings materials is wrong. 

“This decision, which carries significant risks for our environment, public health, and the safety of our communities, was made without any consultation with our municipalities or those bordering Agnew Lake,” said the release.

“The exclusion of our local municipalities from this critical decision-making process represents a grave breach of trust and a disregard for the well-being of our residents.”

“We are particularly alarmed by the potential risk to our drinking water, due to the 

proximity of this site to Agnew Lake. In addition to the participation of our municipalities, many representatives from surrounding First Nations attended the meeting, underscoring the widespread concern across our region about this impending project,” the release continued. 

Municipal officials expressed the hope that a formal public consultation meeting will take place in the coming weeks.

Len Gillis is a reporter with Sudbury.com.