Northern Ont. townships alarmed about plan to move radioactive material

The Township of Nairn and Hyman and the Township of Baldwin held a joint emergency council meeting this week.

The meeting was held to discuss the decision to transport naturally occurring radioactive material from the former Beaucage Mine on Nipissing First Nation and deposit it into the Agnew Lake tailings management area.

The communities, located just west of Sudbury, say they have major concerns about the plan to re-bury more than 34,000 tonnes of radioactive niobium ore from the First Nation.

Nairn and Hyman CAO Belinda Ketchabaw said council only found out about the project in June when a councillor was driving along the backroads and discovered that work was being done.

Ketchabaw said they were shocked to find out the project began in 2015

“This is a good news story on their end. This is a material that does need to be cleaned up," she said.

"But the frustration is we had absolutely no consultation”

The councils passed a resolution to be sent to Premier Doug Ford and several other provincial ministries calling for an immediate halt on the work until there is a clear line of communication.

“It just shows a lack of transparency," Ketchabaw said.

"And so we're also petitioning that any time this type of material is transported, that legislation be changed, that municipalities have to be consulted.”

The Township of Nairn and Hyman and the Township of Baldwin held a joint emergency council meeting this week to discuss a plan to move radioactive material from the former Beaucage Mine. (Photo from video)

“(More than) half of our population is within 100 metres of a water source that comes off Agnew Lake," said Baldwin Mayor Vern Gorham.

"And it does span three municipalities – Sables-Spanish, Baldwin and Nairn Hyman. So there is a lot at stake.”

Along with the water, officials said there are concerns about transporting the material.

“These are specially tarped, from what we understand, everyone that's involved in this project has to wear special PPE hazmat suits," Ketchabaw said.

Clean areas, dirty areas

"There (are) clean areas of this site and dirty areas of the site. So when we're getting the message that this material is safe, it just doesn't actually add up.”

“The Ministry of Mines has been responsible for this site for over 35 years," Gorham said.

"Up until recently, it was in a state of disrepair. Signage had been shot up and rusted, the fencing falling down, and the cap … to keep the nuclear radiation at an acceptable level has degraded over time. So right now, it's not even safe for occasional use or recreation.”

An official with the Ministry of Transportation said in a statement that it's committed to removing niobium mine tailings "from Nipissing First Nation land -- and MTO land -- as a joint project with Nipissing First Nation.

"The niobium waste material in question is not considered a hazardous substance -- or dangerous goods -- and the movement of the niobium from North Bay to the Agnew Lake site was assessed under MTO’s Class Environmental Assessment," the statement said.

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"Modelling by the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines showed that the niobium tailings would be an effective material at repairing and increasing ‘cover’ thickness at the Agnew Lake TMA, which provides an excellent opportunity to support remediation efforts.

"The ministry has reached out to both municipalities and has continued to provide updates and implement safety measures to protect the environment and the community," the statement concluded.

Meanwhile, the communities are planning another community town hall in the coming weeks to provide more information and allow residents to voice their concerns.