Editorial Page — Decision time at Port Hope

During the past eight years, the Canadian government has spent at least $21 million of taxpayers’ money to find a suitable location for storing low-level, radioactive waste generated from the Eldorado plant at Port Hope, Ont.

The government became involved in this effort because Eldorado was once a federal Crown corporation. It was merged into Cameco in 1988, with the federal government limiting to $25 million Cameco’s financial obligation to clean up historic wastes. But even before this transfer of ownership took place, Natural Resources Canada had set up a task force to identify a site for storing low-level waste.

The original task force began work in 1986 and, over the years, consulted 850 municipalities in Ontario. As one might expect, the response was underwhelming. By 1995, only the Ontario communities of Port Hope and Deep River were willing to entertain the idea of storing waste from the uranium-processing operations that began in their region during the early 1930s.

In those days, environmental controls were minimal. Today, Cameco operates the plant under strict standards. Even so, the problems associated with historic waste remain.

On Sept. 21, Port Hope’s 1,200 residents will vote in a referendum to decide if their community will pursue the idea of storing this waste in underground caverns, about 100 metres below the Port Hope plant. The proposed facility would consolidate and isolate about 1.1 million cubic metres of low-level, radioactive waste and contaminated soil currently stored in two waste management facilities and more than 200 sites in Port Hope.

How hazardous is the waste? In May of 1995, the Canadian auditor-general commented on the risk: “. . . (T)he federal government is still concerned that wastes that do not pose a risk to public health or the environment might pose a risk in the future.”

Cameco has endorsed the waste-facility proposal, which would clean up the waste problems and also enable long-term commissioning of the Port Hope operation, some 20 years or so down the road.

A series of public information meetings has been held to explain the proposal to residents. As might be expected, the situation is a controversial one, particularly outside of local communities. But as Cameco points out, the federal government, which is ultimately responsible for cleaning up the historic waste, has no alternative plans should the proposal fail. In other words, it could be many years before another solution is found.

At least the matter will be settled by those who will be directly affected by the outcome — local residents will have a chance to debate and vote on the issue.

Critics of the plan argue that the process is moving too quickly, and that more information should be provided before residents are asked to reach a decision. In the meantime, the problem of radioactive waste is not going away.

No one with a lick of common sense would stand and argue over how and why a sliver entered his foot, and then carry out studies and more studies to determine whether the sliver should be removed.

This issue, too, is one of common sense. And common sense dictates that radioactive waste must be stored in a stable, safe and permanent disposal site.