Do you know what a DGR (deep geological repository) is yet?
Do you know who/what the NWMO (Nuclear Waste Management Organization) is yet?
Where have you been for that last 10 years, more specifically for the last three years? Or are you just tired of hearing/seeing/reading about the NWMO, its ads, news releases and its money contributions that appear in many newspapers. Maybe you are at the point that you just don’t care any more.
Do you “sign in” to the South Bruce Community Liaison Committee (SBCLC) monthly Zoom meeting that are trying to inform you as to what is going on in South Bruce with the NWMO and DGR. It is usually only NWMO-affiliated technical speakers that are informing you. There are other opinions about nuclear waste out there but they are not making presentations. The SBCLC chairman claims that only about 35 to 55 people residents are “signing” in to the meetings (“CLC chair updates South Bruce council on recent activities, education sessions,” July 5 issue).
South Bruce has a population of 5,880, according to the 2021 Census.
Do most residents not care about the burying of highly radioactive nuclear waste under agricultural lands and what South Bruce municipal council is doing? Maybe it is time to take an interest, for the possible outcome is going to affect everyone, even those in the surrounding communities.
Recently, a selected group of people got to go to Finland to see the progress of Finland’s DGR, which is not functioning yet. That project started in the 1980s. This trip was paid for by the NWMO. The selected ones from South Bruce are to report on their five-day trip at a future SBCLC meeting. It will not be an open public meeting, where the general public can ask questions, but a Zoom meeting during a limited time frame. Would it not be beneficial to hear all the participants’ opinions, even the non-South Bruce residents who went on the trip?
Recently, South Bruce residents received a request to answer a survey. Council wants to know what you need to know? Remember, they have been informing you for the last 10 years and you don’t know yet! Is council and the NWMO thinking they are doing something wrong, as not enough South Bruce residents are “informed” and “willing”?
A referendum has been promised but no details as of yet. A paper vote, not an electronic vote, is needed. People had better find out all the effects that a DGR will cause. If South Bruce is selected, it will be years of disruption in our community and surrounding communities. Is this what you want?
S.A. McDonald
Culross/Teeswater
