Elliot Lake homeowners taking federal agency to court

A group of Elliot Lake homeowners, many of them seniors, have applied for a judicial review of a recent decision by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.

The lawsuit says the federal agency erred when it decided there was nothing it could do when it came to forcing the current owner of the uranium mines to clean up the affected properties.

"We made a request to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission to investigate the properties and issue an order against BHP, the mining company to clean up the waste," said Jacqueline Wilson of the Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA).

"The CNSC responded and decided that it didn't have the power to do so for a couple of reasons. In its decision, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission said it doesn't have power over non-chemically processed uranium mine waste rock and that there were contracts that barred its involvement. We disagree with those reasons."

As a result, Wilson said they've decided to get clarification from a judge in federal court.

CELA, along with Blaise Legal based out of North Bay, are representing the four homeowners, three of which are senior citizens.

Independent testing done to the properties indicated that they were facing radiation levels inside their homes that were three to four times higher than the acceptable maximum dose dictated by Health Canada.

"You know this has been a very frustrating process and at the end of the day what's most concerning is that we have this ongoing issue that's continuing on with no government or any assistance to remedy the problem for these individual families," said Wilson.

CTV Northern Ontario has reached out to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission for comment and received information via email.

“Properties in Elliot Lake were measured by the federal-provincial task force on radioactivity in the late 1970s to the early 1980,” the email said.

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“At the time, all properties requiring mitigation were addressed by AECL. In many cases, the mitigation was to install radon removal systems which the home owners were responsible to maintain with support from AECL and Health Canada. For some properties, additional systems were installed by AECL in the 1990s.”

Investigation found that the material was mine waste rock, not radioactive waste, the email said.

“The CNSC does not regulate mine waste rock at non-licensed sites or radon in homes, this falls outside of the CNSC’s mandate,” the organization said.

“Nevertheless, the CNSC has encouraged the home owners to contact Health Canada’s Radiation Protection Bureau to get information on appropriate management of radon.”