Ontario First Nation challenging selection of underground nuclear waste site in court

A First Nation in northern Ontario is challenging the selection of a nearby region as the site of an underground repository that will hold Canada's nuclear waste, arguing in a court filing that it should have had a say in the matter as the site falls "squarely" within its territory.

Eagle Lake First Nation has filed an application in Federal Court seeking a judicial review of the Nuclear Waste Management Organization's decision to build the deep geological repository in the Township of Ignace and Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation area.

An undated aerial photo of the Township of Ignace. (MoveToNWOntario.ca)

The decision was announced in November after Ignace's town council and Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation both agreed to move forward, but Eagle Lake First Nation says it was "unjustifiably" rejected as a host community and denied its own right to consent to the project.

"NWMO rejected ELFN as a host community and not for any fair, justifiable or defensible reasons," but because members of the First Nation had raised concerns about the nuclear waste site, court documents filed last Friday allege.

The court filing, which also names the federal minister of natural resources among the respondents, accuses the NWMO of acting in "bad faith" and seeks to have its decisions quashed.

The NWMO, a non-profit body funded by the corporations that generate nuclear power and waste, said it is reviewing the legal challenge.

A spokesperson noted the nuclear waste site was chosen after "extensive" study and community engagement, which "established that the site is safe" and that the host communities understand the project.

"We have always been open to engaging with any First Nation interested in this project and welcome the opportunity to continue to build on past discussions with Eagle Lake First Nation," Carolyn Fell wrote in a statement.

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The $26-billion project to bury millions of used nuclear fuel bundles underground will include a lengthy regulatory and construction process, with operations not set to begin until the 2040s.

The site selection process began in 2010 with 22 potential locations and was narrowed down totwo finalists in Ontario before the Ignace-Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation area was ultimately chosen.

In its court application, Eagle Lake First Nation said it and Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation were one nation until at least 1932 and their territories still overlap.

The chosen nuclear waste site "falls squarely in ELFN Territory – an area that ELFN and its members have been occupying since time immemorial," it argued.

The First Nation said it met with the NWMO at "least 10 times" between October 2017 and October 2024 but the organization refused its request to be designated a host community for the site.

It argued the risks of burying nuclear waste approximately 80 kilometres from the reserve "have the potential to cause significant impacts on ELFN's rights, including through developing such fear of the area that it drives land users away and dislocates them from their harvesting areas."

Grassy Narrows First Nation in northwestern Ontario also expressed concerns about the underground repository when it was announced, saying the transport and disposal of nuclear waste could cause "irreparable destruction to our lands, rivers and our way of life."

At the time, Chief Clayton Wetelainen of Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation said his community's role in hosting the nuclear waste site was one of the most important responsibilities of our time.

Wetelainen and the council said the project could only continue if it could be proven to be built safely, with respect to the environment and in a way that protects Anishinaabe values.

A spokesperson for Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation said Tuesday that the community "does not have a statement to make at this time" about Eagle Lake First Nation's legal challenge.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 24, 2024.