Debate over radioactive waste plan in Ontario

Residents of several townships west of Sudbury object to the Ontario government’s plan to use a tailings area north of Nairn Centre as a low-level radioactive waste dumping site. The issue was debated during a joint town hall meeting in Nairn Centre attended by representatives of Nairn, Hyman, and Baldwin Townships. The government plans to transport 34,000 tonnes of material from Nipissing First Nation to the Agnew Lake Tailings Management Area (ALTMA), around 15-20 kilometres from Nairn Centre. Some material comes from a former niobium mine that operated in the 1950s. The project is motivated by the presence of areas of exposed uranium tailings at the ALTMA which might pollute the ground and surface water. Wind and water erosion, animal activity, and occasional human traffic have exposed the tailings and allowed radioactive emissions. The government wants to cover the exposed areas using the material trucked from Nipissing.
The plan was presented to local communities in the summer of 2024, but many residents remain skeptical or concerned about its implementation. During the town hall meeting Nairn/Hyman CAO Belinda Ketchabaw asked if adding tailings to the site could lead to environmental contamination and mentioned a 2023 report by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) revealing the presence of various dangerous materials (uranium, cobalt, arsenic) on the ALTMA site. If these materials affect drinking water sources, they may represent a significant health risk for the local population. Ketchabaw concluded her intervention by asking for “a clearer picture” of the environmental stability of the site and the potential risk of drinking water contamination. To this end, local townships commissioned Hutchison Environmental Sciences Ltd. to provide a full study of the issue. The study resulted in three reports, one on the impact of niobium tailings on the ALTMA site, one on the potential impact on local water sources, and one on the oversight of the tailings area by the CNSC. The reports provided some answers, confirming a health and safety plan for the ALTMA site by the Ontario Ministry of Mines, but there are still doubts about the role of the CNSC in overseeing the area. The Ontario Ministry of Mines has also failed to provide details of an environmental monitoring report and risk assessment requested by Ketchabaw and other township representatives last September. Nairn/Hyman mayor Amy Mazey said to have spoken with Mines Minister George Pirie who promised to provide more information by mid-March. However, he did not agree to stop the project.