A third judicial review concerning the Near-Surface Disposal Facility (NSDF) of nuclear waste in Chalk River is scheduled for Wednesday, February 5th from 9:30am to 12:00pm, and Thursday, February 6th at the Supreme Court building (East Room) on Wellington Street in Ottawa.
The Kebaowek First Nation, Concerned Citizens of Renfrew County and Area, the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility and Sierra Club Canada Foundation filed for this review on September 27th to challenge Environment and Climate Change Canada’s decision to issue a permit to destroy species at-risk habitat during construction of the NSDF. Preparation of the site, which is only 1 km away from the Ottawa River, would require the removal of 10,000 mature trees and the destruction of vital habitat for endangered bats, Blanding's Turtles, endangered Eastern Wolves, Canadian Warblers, rare Golden-Winged Warblers, and several active Black Bear dens.
Members of the public are welcome and encouraged to attend this hearing to show their support for the dedicated groups who have been working for years to protect the Kichissippi River (Ottawa River), this land and the local wildlife, and to assert the rights of the Algonquin peoples who have been caring for and stewarding these lands and waters for millennia.
You can attend the hearing in person or register to watch it on Zoom. To obtain the Zoom link, visit this link HERE and scroll down to "Advanced Search" and type “Kebaowek” in the search bar. Click on the green icon, and register your name/email.
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The NSDF project would allow Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) to dispose one million cubic metres of radioactive waste in an above-ground mound. The NSDF site, located near the Chalk River Laboratories about 190 kilometres northwest of Ottawa, was approved as a solution to the radioactive waste that has accumulated since the 1940s, and to dispose of waste from future operations.
The first judicial review, filed by Kebaowek First Nation, was heard on July 10th and 11th, 2024, and concerned the the CNL’s failure to secure Algonquin First Nations’ free, prior and informed consent for disposal of hazardous waste in their territory as mandated by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (UNDRIP).
A second judicial review was heard in court on November 19th and 20th, 2024, at which the Concerned Citizens of Renfrew County and Area, Ralliement Contre la Pollution Radioactive, and the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility challenged the NSDF on a number of grounds including excessive radiation doses, failure to consider cumulative effects and failure to sufficiently describe or control what would be put in the disposal facility. The outcomes for both reviews are pending and may take several more months.
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