Another petition regarding the potential storage of nuclear waste near Ignace is being done by groups that oppose the plan.
One was filed with the federal government in May but environmental groups are not happy with the response received.
We the Nuclear Free North and Protect Our Waterways – No Nuclear Waste petitioned the feds to halt the siting process by the Nuclear Waste Management Organization from proceeding any further.
Areas around Ignace and South Bruce have been shortlisted as potential locations for underground depositories.
The government’s response to the petition was tabled last week, assuring the project will be subject to a regulatory review process once a site is selected.
But the environmental groups say the response glossed over their concerns about transportation or the site selection process.
“The petition was a specific call to the Federal Government to direct the NWMO to demonstrate that it had the consent of the impacted communities – including those downstream and along the transportation route – prior to selecting a site. The Government response completely fails to speak to this central and pressing issue,” says Brennain Lloyd, a volunteer with We the Nuclear Free North who created the online petition on the federal government’s website.
The environmental groups feel the process has been divisive, accusing the NWMO of using large amounts of money to persuade communities to stay in the process.
The petition gained 3,327 signatures.
The groups have now launched a second petition with signatures to be collected over the summer and presented to the federal government later in the year.
