Beyond Nuclear

OPG wants to dump Ontario's radioactive wastes less than a mile from the shore of Lake Huron!Beyond Nuclear has submitted yet another round of public comments to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, and Canadian federal Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq, opposing Ontario Power Generation's Deep Geologic Repository (DGR) for radioactive waste burial targeted at the Great Lakes shore at Bruce Nuclear Generating Station in Kincardine, Ontario.

David Martin of Greenpeace Canada dubbed the DGR the DUD, for Deep Underground Dump.

Now that this likely final round of public comment is over, the resistance to the DUD moves to the floor of the U.S. Senate and U.S. House. Senators Stabenow and Peters, and Representative Kildee (Democrats from Michigan), will likely introduce the "Stop Nuclear Waste by Our Lakes Act" next week, once the congressional session resumes. They announced the legislation at press conferences in Michigan during the August recess.

The Michigan Members of Congress previously led the introduction of bipartisan congressional resolutions against the DUD. The House version garnered 22 co-sponsors, 11 Democrats and 11 Republicans.

What can YOU do to stop the DUD? Do one or more of the following:

1. If you haven't already, sign the Stop the Great Lakes Nuclear Dump petition. Even if you have signed it, spread the word, and urge everyone you know to also sign it.

2. If you haven't already, sign the Sum of Us petition. Again, even if you have signed it, spread the word, and urge everyone you know to also sign it.

3. Contact your two U.S. Senators, and your U.S. Representative (get patched through to their offices via the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121), and urge them to co-sponsor the bipartisan U.S. Senate (S.Res. 134) and House (H.Res. 194) resolutions opposing the DGR; if they already have done so, thank them; if they have not, urge them to ASAP. Likewise, urge them to co-sponsor U.S. Senate and House legislation, the "Stop Nuclear Waste by Our Lakes Act," to be introduced by U.S. Sens. Stabenow and Peters, and U.S. Rep. Kildee (Democrats from Michigan), once Congress returns to session on Sept. 8. The "Stop Nuclear Waste by Our Lakes Act" will invoke the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty, and mandate the U.S.-Canadian International Joint Commission (IJC) to undertake a comprehensive review of the DGR proposal.

(On September 10, 2015, the "Stop Nuclear Waste by our Lakes Act 2015" was introduced in the US Senate by US Senator Debbie Stabenow [D-MI], co-sponsored by US Senators Sherrod Brown [D-OH], Richard Durbin [D-IL], Mark Kirk [R-IL] and Gary Peters [D-MI]: Stop Nuclear Waste by our Lakes Act 2015. A companion bill was introduced in the U.S. House by U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee [D-MI].)

4. Contact the White House, and urge President Obama to instruct Secretary of State Kerry to activate the IJC to undertake a comprehensive review of the DGR proposal.

If you have already done each of these action steps, THANK YOU! Please consider contacting your Members of Congress and the White House again, and urge everyone you know to take these actions as well! (Feel free to just forward the link to this action alert.) Together, we must do all we can to stop OPG's DGR, and protect the Great Lakes -- drinking water supply for 40 million people in 8 U.S. states, 2 Canadian provinces, and a large number of Native American First Nations; more than 20% of the world's, and around 85% of North America's, surface fresh water; and the lifeblood of one of the world's single largest regional economies.