Proposed radioactive waste dump in Deep River met with opposition at final hearing

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) held its final hearings in Ottawa on Thursday into a proposed radioactive waste disposal site further north in the Ottawa Valley that is fiercely opposed by Algonquin First Nation groups. 

Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) wants to build an engineered mound near the ground's surface on the Chalk River Laboratories site, located in Deep River, Ont., and on the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinābe people. It's about 190 kilometres northwest of Ottawa. 

The disposal site would consist of containment cells with a base liner and cover as well as a system to detect leaks, according to a project descripton on the commission's website. 

All disposed waste would need to meet established waste acceptance criteria.

If approved by the commission, the facility could operate for 50 years. 

'Should be asking our permission' 

The disposal site was proposed years ago, with the commission launching an environmental assessment back in 2016.

Opposition to the project, from Indigenous groups and municipalities, has intensified in the years since. 

In 2017, the Assembly of First Nations accused the commission and the federal government of failing to meet their constitutional duty to consult and accommodate First Nations.

"They should be asking for our permission … and right now we have the Algonquin people saying no," Chief Casey Ratt of Algonquins of Barriere Lake said during a pause in Thursday's hearing.

The project is also of concern because of its proximity to Kichi Zibi (the Algonquin name for the Ottawa River) and because the site is near Algonquin sacred sites at Oiseau Rock and Pointe au Baptême, according to Kebaowek First Nation, another Algonquin group calling on the commission to reject the project.

CNL's plan includes releasing effluent from a wastewater treatment plant into Perch Lake, a point of concern for the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation.

"There is no public access to the Perch Creek and Perch Lake watershed where ... effluent discharges will occur," the company has argued in a written submission to the commission. 

Justin Roy of Kebaowek First Nation told the commission there are risks that can't be ignored. 

"When building a camp and you need potable drinking water and you build a well, you don't go and build your outhouse beside that well," Roy said. 

What happens next 

The commission describes itself as an independent administrative tribunal set up at arm's length from government, without ties to the nuclear industry.

The group's hearings into the proposed facility began in person in February and May of 2022, were supposed to pick up in June 2023, but were adjourned to Thursday, taking place over Zoom. 

"[That's] not our ways," Chief Dylan Whiteduck of Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation said of the online format. 

"We were only provided an hour to give our final statement, which to us is obviously disrespectful," he added. 

The commission has yet to issue its final report on whether CNL's site licence can be amended, which would allow the company to build the disposal facility. 

"CNSC staff must have reviewed enough evidence and be able to show that the proposed activities would not cause significant adverse environmental effects before the commission can proceed with its decision," according to the commission's website.

The image below shows how the commission breaks down the process.

CNL is made its final remarks too on Thursday afternoon. 

The project meets all regulatory requirements, CNL president and CEO Joe McBrearty said early in his presentation. 

Consultation with Indigenous groups has been "robust and meaningful," he added.

The commission said it may be "several months" for a decision to be made and published.