The following is an open letter to Dave Rushton, project manager for the South Bruce Nuclear Exploration Team, dated June 15, 2022.
Dave,
I remember our discussion last summer after an in-person “willingness” workshop. You informed me that your position as project manager for the South Bruce Nuclear Exploration Team was to represent the residents of South Bruce. Do you remember my response? I said your actions would show who you truly represent.
Watching over the past year, time and time again you have presented to council encouraging them to keep following the NWMO (Nuclear Waste Management Organization) process. Even when 36 per cent of South Bruce residents/ratepayers signed a petition requesting a referendum as part of the October election, you continued to suggest to council that they should wait, they should allow more studies to be conducted, and that the community still needed to learn more.
Now the community is being presented with study reports almost weekly. We’re being encouraged to learn more, but when I requested printed copies of these studies I was told I must wait for approval.
Who needs to approve this?
Surely it can’t be due to the printing cost. With the number of employees promoting this project and the millions of dollars in goodwill and investment funding, surely money can be found to provide printed copies of these studies to the community members who wish to read and study them. Many people don’t want to read a screen – they prefer a paper copy where they can write down their comments and questions. It also makes cross-referencing and comparing studies easier. And what about people who don’t use the internet?
The public presentations and summaries of these studies neglect to include any risks or negative impacts that may have been raised by the studies.
Why is it that the only printed reports available for the public must be signed out and returned to the libraries and municipal office?
Is there a reason that the Nuclear Exploration Team and the NWMO need to have control over where these copies are? What are you afraid we will discover in these reports?
If the printed copies are controlled by the municipality and the NWMO, how can we be assured that revisions won’t be made to the reports if issues are raised?
Speaking about revisions, several recent reports are based on the South Bruce & Area Growth Predictions Study that was released in February 2022, then revised in April 2022. We would like to have a copy of the original and the revised study.
Promoters of the project continue to claim that this is an open and transparent process, yet once again information requests are being delayed.
What do you and the NWMO really mean when you tell us to learn more?
When will we be provided with printed versions of all the studies and their peer reviews?
Michelle Stein
Teeswater
Editor’s note: Since this letter was sent to Mr. Rushton, both parties have confirmed that printed copies of the studies requested have been delivered. Mr. Rushton also told Midwestern Newspapers that seven hard copies of each report and peer reviews were available for those without internet access, and that going forward this will be bumped up to 10 copies. The South Bruce Nuclear Exploration Team is also looking at options for printing these studies going forward. For those with internet access, all of the studies and peer reviews are available online at www.southbruce.ca/en/municipal-government/studies-and-reports.aspx.
