Community Liaison Committee Learns about Environmental Baseline and Change Assessments

SOUTH BRUCE, ON –The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) is studying local environmental features to measure any potential impacts of the Project to store used nuclear fuel. A presentation summarizing findings to date was shared publicly on Thursday evening at the Community Liaison Committee meeting.

The session highlighted findings of two baseline reports on the environment: one regarding air, land and water; and the second on biodiversity, which includes species, habitats and ecosystems.

“The purpose of the environmental baseline programs is to collect data to describe existing environmental conditions so that predictions can be made [about] how the project could impact the environment,” said Dr. Michelle Nearing, Manager of Environmental Program at the NWMO. “With this understanding we can explore how we could manage, mitigate and in some cases eliminate impacts”

Dr. Nearing was joined by Dr. Andrea Buckman and Dr. Heather Bears of Zoetica Environmental Consulting Services, who are among the consultants hired by the NWMO to carry out detailed fieldwork encompassing species at risk, water levels, air quality, wildlife, and more.

While the baseline reports document current environmental conditions, the consultant explained that change assessments are also ongoing. This work is complimentary to baseline studies and identifies how the Project may interact with the environment and how the project design can help reduce or mitigate environmental impacts.

Change Assessments consider each phase of the project lifecycle in the community and does not consider the transportation of used nuclear fuel.

Data collected during the South Bruce environmental studies concludes that mitigation measures are available for all identified potential impacts. The Municipality’s lead consultant, GHD, is conducting a technical peer review of field activities and reports. GHD will publish a Peer Review Summary Report describing their findings and recommendations.

Next steps for environmental studies will begin following site selection and will collect more data over a continuous timeframe. Future work will improve the reliability of the baseline and better inform any potential mitigation of impacts.

The full presentation is available on the Municipal website and the reports will also be posted upon submission. The next meeting of the CLC will be on November 2nd and will feature an educational presentation on the Confidence in Safety Report.

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