Northern Communities pass first hurdle to housing nuclear waste

Pinehouse Lake and English River have passed the first stage in the long process of possibly constructing a nuclear waste facility.

According to the Nuclear Waste Management Organization, the two northern communities have the right geological profiles to be candidates for the sight.

Though they’ve passed that crucial first step, it’ll be around 10 years before anything would actually get built.

Initial concerns about the possible project are being addressed through education and consultation, Vince Natomagan, said a representative with the Kineepik Métis Local, which operates in and around Pinehouse Lake.

“The more we engaged with our community members, the more they got curious,” he said.

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“These days they go on (our) website and learn about it, or they come out to our community meetings.”

Though the education initiatives were going on, Natomagan said it was still too soon to say for sure if the community would commit to the project in the end.

“I cannot say with (certainty) where the community is at,” he said.

“It would be unfair to be taking a community vote when we don’t know the full knowledge of this thing. All we can assume is that the community will keep learning about the process.”

The biggest concerns that community members were bringing up were both the environmental and economic impacts the project could have, Natomagan said.

“We are the most effected because we continue to live off the land. We still eat our fish, we still eat moose meat, and on and on,” he said.

“But when we see potential development like this, we cannot just simply say no and not be mindful.

“We need healthy lifestyle as opposed to the current dysfunctional socio-economic conditions that exist within our community.”

The community would continue to learn as much as possible and make informed decisions as the process continues, Natomagan said.

Pinehouse Lake is one of several communities across Canada that have recently been vying to host a waste facility.

adesouza@panow.com