RE: nuclear waste disposal site at Chalk River

Reference Number
6
Text

Dear Dr Steve Bonnell 

 

I urge the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada to go ahead with a regional assessment of nuclear waste disposal activities in the Ottawa Valley, and I would like to know if my concerns about assigning such a challenging project to SNC Lavalin, Jacobs Engineering and Texas Fluor, that have such poor records, can be addressed by the assessment. 

With best wishes 

Jorge Sorger PhD 

Member of Council of Canadians, Ottawa Chapter 

 

CC Carys Burgess 

 

THE CHALLENGING NUCLEAR WASTE DISPOSAL PROJECT AT CHALK RIVER HAS BEEN ASSIGNED TO COMPANIES WITH A POOR RECORD   

  

The proposed nuclear waste disposal site at Chalk River will be the size of a football field and 7 stories high. It is to be filled with 1,000,000 cubic metres of radioactive waste which have to be isolated for at least 550 years. The site is above ground, being thus exposed to extremes of weather due to climate change, and is in an active seismic zone. It is situated close to and connected to the Ottawa River, which is the main source of Ottawa’s and Gatineau’s drinking water, and flows into the St. Lawrence River at Montreal. 

 

This project is most challenging, yet it has been assigned to SNC-Lavalin, Texas Fluor and Jacobs Engineering, which all have poor records, leading to concern about the danger to our drinking water.   

 

Here is some of the evidence on the poor records of these companies: 

 

SNC-Lavalin  

CBC News 8/3/2019 reported:  

a)The McGill Health Sciences building scandal of corruption in acquiring the contract;  

b) Corruption and bribes in acquiring the contract for the Padma bridge in Bangla Desh, leading the World Bank to ban SNC Lavalin from participating in its development projects for 10 years;  

c) Corruption and bribes in acquiring the contract for repairs to the Jacques Cartier bridge; d) Defrauding the Libyan government; e) Election scandal, where the company asked their employees to donate to the Liberal and Conservative campaigns and then reimbursed the donations. 

Leo Geoff, CBC News 27/10/2018 reported that SNC-Lavalin built a carbon-capture facility for Saskatchewan Power. It has serious design problems leading to frequent breakdowns. 

J Chianello, CBC News 11/1/2020: SNC-Lavalin’s LRT 2 project (light rail in the City of Ottawa) is fatally flawed, with problems of signalling and train controls. 

  

Texas Fluor  

The prestigious Violation Tracker at www.goodjobsfirst.org/violation-tracker (http://www.goodjobsfirst.org/violation-tracker) reported that: Texas Fluor had 1 competition violation, 2 government related violations, 19 safety violations and 9 nuclear safety violations. 

D Lee, Courthouse News Service 24/4/2018 reported that 32 people were killed in an accident of the company with a horrendous safety record. 

  

Jacobs Engineering  

Violation Tracker reported that: Jacobs Engineering had 6 government related offenses, 3 environment related ones, 32 safety violations and 4 nuclear safety related ones. 

A Carry, Tri City Herald 1/4/2019 reported that radioactive contamination was found next to the administration building of Jacobs Engineering, on cars of the employees and in their lunch area. 

 

This very challenging project that could threaten the drinking water of Ottawa, Gatineau and Montreal should not be assigned to companies with such poor records. 

 

Respectfully, 

Jorge Sorger PhD 

<Email address removed>

member Council of Canadians Ottawa chapter 

Submitted by
Administrator on behalf of Jorge Sorger PhD 
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Date Submitted
2021-06-26
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