The Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada, Catherine McKenna, has further delayed a decision on the proposal to bury low-level nuclear waste 680 metres below ground off the shores of Lake Huron at Ontario’s Bruce nuclear plant, near the town of Kincardine.
The Minister has requested OPG provide more information on the plan’s possible effects on the “physical and cultural heritage” of the local First Nation populations. The Canadian government has a common law duty to consult and accommodate the Saugeen Ojibway Nation and Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation.
On Feb. 18, 2016, OPG provided Minister McKenna a study detailing the environmental effects feasibility of alternate locations for the project. The study concluded that the original Kincardine plan is still the most environmentally and economically suitable spot.
In 2015 a federal review panel, formed in January 2012 by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, approved the controversial plan.
The timeline for the final decision is indefinite.
