More Lies from Energy Alberta

Albertans first took notice of Energy Alberta, when owner Wayne Henuset announced he purchased land to build his proposed reactors in 2007. He stated: "There are other things that we need to do but we do have land as we speak now. I won’t tell you where, but I will tell you I actually purchased it this week." (Whitecourt Star, Aug. 22, 2007) 

Henuset followed up at a press conference two weeks later saying he had a buyer for 70% of the output from the reactors. He would not name the purchaser, citing a confidentiality agreement. (Peace River Gazette, Sept. 5, 2007)  

His credibility evaporated five days later when Guy Huntingford, the Public Relations Director for Energy Alberta, admitted there were no deals or commitments in place to sell the electricity, nor had they purchased   any land to build the reactors. (Edmonton Journal, Sept. 10, 2007) Bruce Power stepped in to save the project by signing a letter of intent to buy Energy Alberta in November,2007.  

NO CONCERN FOR RESIDENTS – Unfortunately, Energy Alberta is showing the same lack of ethics in their return to the Peace Country with their current proposal. They began by setting April 14th – May 14th  as the 30-day period to comment on their project. This was the worst time of year for the farm workers across the county as they were “balls to the wall” busy with spring planting. They couldn’t take the time to educate themselves about nuclear reactors. Energy Alberta knew the farmers were against the project and didn’t want them to get involved. The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) and the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) were complicit in this attempt to suppress input from the rural community as you’ll read later. 

SILENCING FARMERS - Energy Alberta was nowhere to be seen all summer and now they show up for a week of meetings in the middle of fall harvest. Once again, they’re dodging farm workers who make up the bulk of the population of the County. I’ve had to ride around in combines this week to educate farmers about the nuclear proposal. The farmers were    unanimous against the project. 

LIES ABOUT EMISSIONS - Energy Alberta’s deceit is present on their website and promotional material. They falsely claim that nuclear energy is emission free. The debate on this statement was resolved in 2010 when Lake Ontario Waterkeepers and law students from Queens University filed a complaint with Advertising Standards Canada about the phrase “CANDU reactors are emission free”. 

They submitted documentation showing CANDU reactors emitted many substances including, but not limited to: 2-propenoic acid, ammonia, aromatic hydrocarbon resin, benzene, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrazine, morpholine, nitrogen oxides, phosphoric acid, quarterly ammonium compounds, sulphur dioxide, suspended particulate matter, total hydrocarbons, as well as radioactive tritium.  

Advertising Standards Canada posted a decision on its website on June 9, 2010, stating “It is inaccurate and unsupportable to call CANDU reactors emission free. It is misleading for an advertiser to promise one thing when by its own admission, it can only deliver something that is significantly less”. 

We informed the CNSC and IAAC that Energy Alberta was giving false information to the public. IAAC responded that it was our responsibility to hold Energy Alberta accountable and make them change. The CNSC made no response despite being the regulator of all things nuclear. Why don’t they issue an order? 

The answer may come from Bruce Power’s refusal to test 583 workers as requested by the CNSC. Bruce Power’s spokesman John Peters stated: “The company’s response to the CNSC is open to negotiation. Under the applicable sections of the General Nuclear Safety and Control Regulations, federal inspectors issue requests to nuclear companies, and not binding orders”. (Globe and Mail, June 23rd, 2010)