Surprise!... Radioactive Transport Planned for North Shore
Shore Report special edition
Residents Object to Lack of Consultation
Image courtesy Tom Tom Earthstar Graphics, 2024
North Shore communities near Nairn Centre, Ontario were surprised to learn only late this summer of advanced provincial plans to transport approximately 34,000 tonnes of radioactive niobium mine tailings over 150 kilometers from Nipissing First Nation to the Agnew Lake Tailings Management Area (ALTMA). The material will be used as fill to cover existing radioactive tailings waste at the former Agnew Lake Uranium Mine site, decommissioned between 1983 and ’88, and under provincial responsibility since the early 1990s. The radiation cover at Agnew Lake is distressed and degraded after many decades, and in need of repair — a fact many local residents did not know until this September.
At an often emotional Special Town Hall Meeting of the Township of Nairn and Hyman and the Corporation of the Township of Baldwin, local MPP Michael Mantha (Independent, Algoma-Manitoulin) rose to speak, saying that rumours about recent unexplained road upgrade projects had led to a “swell of panic” from local residents. He characterized the provincial activity as “going on for almost a decade” without proper consultation in the communities and First Nations affected.
“No-one was brought into a room and told, ‘hey, this is what’s going on; this is what we’re going to be doing,’” Mantha insisted. He also suggested the ministries involved responded to his office’s complaints about lack of notice by saying “well, we don’t have to.”
Dr. Andréane Chenier, an occupational health and safety specialist at the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), speaking on behalf of local MP Carol Hughes (NDP, Algoma–Manitoulin–Kapuskasing), noted “the idea that First Nations communities have not been properly consulted about things that may impact their Nations is not really in line with Truth and Reconciliation.”
Dr. Andréane Chenier speaking at the Special Town Hall Meeting. Image courtesy Township of Nairn and Hyman.
In a September newsletter to his community, Whitefish River Gimaa (Chief) Rodney Nahwegahbow, noted that the affected area is “within our Whitefish River Traditional Territory,” and that his Council was “disturbed to learn of the lack of consultation.” It would seem, despite being engaged in the clean-up of a historically unjust contamination on First Nation land, the province made no directly related approach to Whitefish River FN or other affected FNs on this project.
Image courtesy WRFN.
Niobium is used to create various alloys employed in construction, heat resistance, jet engines, and medical equipment such as MRI machines. A defunct niobium ore processing facility from the 1950s near Nipissing First Nation left thousand of tonnes of contaminant, which the province has only recently been working to clean up. Permanent storage of some of that waste material at ALTMA is part of the project, which involves the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) and the Ministry of Mines.
Though niobium itself is considered a low-risk material, the mine tailings in question may contain elements said to release radium and radon gas as they deteriorate over time. A recent, deeply researched article by Aya Dufour at CBC.ca uncovers the 67-year history of the Nipissing contamination, including a legacy of official silence from the provincial and federal governments. Dufour spoke with former Nipissing FN Land Manager, Joan McLeod Shabogesic, learning that while Health Canada distributed radon detectors in the community back in the day, no-one there was ever informed of what the detectors found.
Representatives of the Ministry of Mines, MTO, and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) attended the recent Town Hall, and made presentations that brought much-needed, solid information to the community; though expressions of gratitude in the room were muted (to say the least) given both the timing and nature of the disclosures.
From what was shared, it appears the radiation cover at the ALTMA site has significantly degraded over time and might even be considered to be in emergency need of repair. CNSC described a site worn down by ATV and other motorized traffic, and improperly identified because of missing signage. The Ministry of Mines showed maps indicating significant “hot spots” of radioactive leakage with potential for exposure 8 times the recommended annual limit for a member of the general public. Despite all that, residents were continually assured the site was safe for foot traffic and hunting.
Image courtesy Northwatch.
Speaking after the presentations, local environmental and nuclear safety advocate, Brennain Lloyd from Northwatch, asked “why was the degraded cover allowed to persist from 2016?” when it was apparently first identified by inspectors. In other words, why is the province only getting to this longstanding problem now? As well, Lloyd expressed a need for reassurance that radioactive niobium tailings would actually be an effective and safe cover material on the degraded site.
During public comments, Sam Gilchrist, executive director at Gwekwaadziwin Miikan, and the licensed trapper for the section of Crown Land including the Agnew Lake tailings site, called the news “super scary,” and described his experience of learning about the project by observing increased activity without explanation.
“All of a sudden there was a highway — out of nowhere — going up into the bush.”
Following the Town Hall, a Joint Emergency Meeting of the two Councils was held on October 2 to pass an emergency resolution, which was then sent by letter to Premier Doug Ford. The letter reads, in part:
During our deliberations, it became evident that the materials slated for transport are not correctly categorized as NORM [naturally occurring radioactive material], but rather as mine tailings containing not only radioactive substances like niobium and uranium but also other hazardous heavy metals.
The townships call for an immediate halt to all activity on the project, and answers to local questions before any more work is done. Their letter was copied to concerned provincial ministers and all affected local leaders.
Shore Report will continue to follow this story.