Letter of Support - Deep Geologic Nuclear Repository

To the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada,

I am writing to express my support for the DGR in Ignace, Ontario and the exclusion of transportation of the nuclear waste from the scope of the impact assessment. As a resident of Thunder Bay, I acknowledge that I am 250 kilometres away from the proposed project and that my comment should be weighted less than those who live in the immediate area of the project.

I am against unfairly imposing additional scope requirements on the project on the basis that nuclear waste should be scrutinized more than any other dangerous good already transported in Canada. Furthermore, because a regulatory framework already exists under the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act I see adding transportation to the scope as redundant. Adding transportation to the scope sets the precedent that any future developments in the region that involve the transport of dangerous goods, whether in their construction or operation, will encounter additional delays assessing the impact of transportation over potentially thousands of kilometres.

Communities that develop themselves around transportation corridors and benefit economically as a result should not have a say in the development and prosperity of other municipalities simply on the basis that goods they do not like will pass near them. If the dangerous goods have been demonstrated to be transported safely and existing regulatory frameworks and agencies exist I see no reason to assess transportation further.

I am not in favour of encouraging scope creep as a means to unfairly delay and threaten the feasibility of projects deemed controversial by communities that are not within the immediate area or affected directly by the proposed project.

This is a generational project I wish to see constructed in my life time that will provide containment for thousands of years rather than the current solution which lasts decades. Therefore, in the interest of future generations, I support the DGR and recognize the safety benefits of moving the nuclear waste to a more geologically stable location to be managed in perpetuity.