Beyond Nuclear thankful for indefinite delay on Great Lakes nuclear waste dump, vows to redouble efforts to nip the "DUD" in the bud

The Great Lakes serve as the drinking water supply for 40 million people in eight U.S. states, two Canadian provinces, and a large number of Native American First Nations.The Honourable Catherine McKenna, Canada's federal Environment Minister, has announced a major delay in the approval process for Ontario Power Generation's request to construct and operate a radioactive waste dump on the shoreline of the Great Lakes. Previously, Minister McKenna had set a March 1st deadline for making the final decision on whether or not to endorse a Joint Review Panel Environmental Assessment Report recommendation to allow the DGR (Deep Geologic Repository) to proceed, despite the high risks and countless uncertainties. Minister McKenna has ordered OPG to provide an estimate, by April 18th, as to how long it will need to provide the extensive additional information requested. The consequent delay in this proceeding could prove lengthy.

Beyond Nuclear, which has long helped lead the growing international national grassroots environmental opposition to the dump (which we prefer to call the DUD -- for Deep Underground Dump -- a phrase coined by Dave Martin of Greenpeace Canada), welcomed the announced delay. Beyond Nuclear released this response to Minister McKenna's announcement.

However, our coalition must remain vigilant, and use this opportunity to stop the DUD once and for all. And then move on to deepening and expanding our work to address the many other radioactive risks faced by the Great Lakes, including at the targeted DUD site itself: the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station, the largest nuclear power plant on Earth, in terms of number of reactors. More.

U.S. Senate approves bill to put Army Corps in charge of West Lake landfill

This radiation warning sign is one of many posted on the chain link fence surrounding part of the West Lake Landfill in Bridgeton. Credit Sarah Skiold-Hanlin | St. Louis Public RadioAs reported by St. Louis Public Radio, the U.S. Senate has passed a bill, S. 2306, transferring oversight authority from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACE), for the West Lake Landfill Manhattan Project-era radioactive wastes illegally dumped there.

Concerned local residents and environmental groups, from Just Moms STL to Missouri Coalition for the Environment (MCE), have long called for the transfer to ACE, for the dangerous wastes to be remediated, rather than just capped and abandoned in place, as long proposed by EPA.

As documented by a 1989 St. Louis Post-Dispatch multi-part, front page investigative series by Caroline Bower, as well as a Dec. 12, 1990 article in The Riverfront Times, very active citizen watch-dogging has persisted for decades.

The 1990 Riverfront Times article quotes Beyond Nuclear board member Kay Drey of St. Louis, who has long been deeply concerned about the potential for catastrophic flooding at West Lake Landfill, as it is located in the Missouri River flood plain.

In 2015, Kay published a pamphlet, warning about the risks to the drinking water supply of metro St. Louis. It includes a map, showing that the radioactive wastes at West Lake Landfill are upstream of the drinking water intakes for North County and the City of St. Louis, on the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers.

For the past several years, concern has deepened over an underground fire at an adjacent garbage dump, slowly burning its way towards West Lake Landfill's buried radioactive wastes. Just Moms STL, MCE, and others' tireless organizing have succeeded in garnering extensive local and national media coverage. Fox 2 Now interviewed Just Moms leader, Dawn Chapman of Bridgeton, regarding the successful passage of the U.S. Senate bill.

In a recent edition of the Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, Beyond Nuclear board member Lucas Hixson co-authored a study confirming that radium and uranium had migrated off-site from West Lake Landfill, into neighboring communities.

The U.S. House now picks up the matter, with a companion bill introduced before the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Take action to stop the Great Lakes nuclear waste dump!

Visit Stop the Great Lake Nuclear Dump's website at www.stopthegreatlakesnucleardump.comPlease act ASAP. Canada's Environment Minister has announced a decision by March 1st at the latest, on whether or not to proceed with a radioactive waste dump on the Great Lakes shore -- drinking water supply for 40 million people in eight U.S. states, two Canadian provinces, and a large number of Native American First Nations. She could act at any time, and is certainly formulating her decision as we speak, so please act right away!

Write to Canada's Prime Minister and Environment Minister, respectively: Justin.Trudeau@parl.gc.ca & Catherine.McKenna@parl.gc.ca. (yes, even if you are American!)

Urge them to decide NO! on Ontario Power Generation's proposed Deep Geologic Repository for radioactive waste on the Great Lakes shore! More.