John Saunders’ position on a proposed nuclear waste repository can’t be described as NIMBY – “not in my backyard.” It’s a lot closer to SIMBY – “sure, in my backyard.”
Mostly, he just wants a decision made so he can move on with his life.
Saunders has 160 acres of land near Revell Lake that he and his young daughters use as home base for nearly half of every year.
That makes them likely the closest, perhaps only, neighbour of the prospective home for the deep geological repository that the Nuclear Waste Management Organization wants to build.
His plot of land is a few kilometres away from where the NWMO is conducting research at six deep bore holes.
Saunders bought the property south of Highway 17 around the time Ignace raised its hand in 2010 to say it could be a host community for the repository’s operations.
His daughters, ages 9 and 11, are members of a Treaty 9 First Nation to the north through their mother. Saunders and the girls have been staying in campers on the Revell property in warm months every year.
Something more permanent than a camper would be nice, he says, but that will have to wait till the NWMO makes up its mind.
“There were intentions to build, but we don’t know what’s coming and our life’s been on hold for a long time,” Saunders says from his main residence in the southwest corner of Manitoba.
The former full-time Northwestern Ontario resident says he values the Revell Lake acreage as a place where his daughters can connect with land relatively close to their heritage.
“We bought this property and, you know, when we did it 12 or 13 years ago, it was quiet there,” Saunders says.
“There was nobody in those back roads there, and now this hype (over the nuclear repository) has brought the attention.
“It has brought people of all walks of life into the area, and it’s unfortunate but yeah, our life’s on hold because of the project.”
He’s quick to add that he doesn’t mean to criticize the NWMO or say he’s against the proposed deep underground facility for keeping spent fuel from Canada’s nuclear reactors.
In fact, he says, his family supports building the repository in the area because it’s fairly secluded and its solid hard-rock geology seems right for such a project.
It’s likely safer than the other possible site, which is in a more heavily populated area near Lake Huron, he says.
But still, Saunders says he can hardly wait to find out if the organization is going with the Revell Lake site – and, if so, what arrangements it would make with him to compensate for the ensuing disruptions or buy the property.
“They haven’t given me a direction,” he says. “They left Mr. Saunders here out on a limb.
“For the next 10, 20 years, if and when construction starts, what’s going to happen to me and my family?”
A regional spokesperson for the nuclear organization says they are aware of such concerns and will have an answer.
“The NWMO is currently working with property owners closest to the Revell site to understand and address concerns,” says Vince Ponka.
“These discussions will continue as we move towards a site selection decision later this year.”
A decision on the repository’s location – the Revell Lake site between Ignace and Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation, or a place near South Bruce in southwestern Ontario – is supposed to be made before the year is over. The NWMO expects construction at the chosen site to begin around 2034.
