Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.
Nuclear Waste Management Organization
Saugeen Ojibway Nation Water Walkers led by women from the Chippewas of Nawash and Saugeen First Nations are travelling nearly 600 kilometres around the boundary of their territory this month. Hundreds of members from the Saugeen Ojibway Nation are expected to participate in the walk and carry a kettle of water and an eagle staff throughout the traditional SON territory.
Canada’s own deep geological repository would be built more than 500 metres underground, surrounded by a natural barrier of solid rock that has been disconnected from the water table for millions of years. To visualize that depth, imagine an excavation more than five times as deep as the House of Commons Peace Tower is tall. The NWMO has been working to identify a site for the deep geological repository since 2010. Twenty-two municipalities and Indigenous communities expressed interest in exploring their potential to host it.
The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) announced the completion of their deep borehole drilling projects in both Teeswater and Ignace. A press release on April 7 said, “The completion of the last borehole at the potential site in the SON-South Bruce area follows on work in the Wabigoon-Ignace area, which wrapped up in November 2021 after five years of intensive field study that started in 2017.” “We need to be sure that used nuclear fuel can be safely contained in the rock to ensure water, people and the environment are safe,” said Sarah Hirschorn, director of geoscience at the NWMO.
“It is irresponsible to leave nuclear waste in water basins year after year without a decision,” said Strandhall, who was quoted in a nuclear-industry publication based in London, England. “We must not hand over the responsibility to our children and grandchildren,” she added. “We, and Finland, are the first in the world to take responsibility for nuclear waste.”
Concerns about groundwater near a proposed site for a nuclear waste repository are top of mind for many who have worries about the Nuclear Waste Management Organization's (NWMO) plan near Ignace, Ont. The NWMO wrapped up the drilling of its sixth borehole earlier this month, but work on figuring out how water flows to and from the area will continue. CBC News recently travelled to Ignace and Dryden, to hear about the public's perception of the project. One theme emerged, with many people concerned about water.
