HomeMy WebLinkAboutRESOLUTIONS-2015-011-R-151 /21 /2015
11-R-15
A RESOLUTION
Opposing the Construction of a Nuclear Waste Repository in the Great
Lakes Basin
WHEREAS, Ontario Power Generation (OPG) is proposing to construct a
deep geologic repository (DGR), which is an underground long-term burial facility, at the
Bruce Nuclear Generating Station site in Kincardine Ontario Canada, and bury and
abandon in the DGR all of Ontario's low and intermediate level radioactive nuclear waste,
some of which remains highly radioactive and toxic for over 100,000 years. The proposed
site is approximately one Kilometre inland from the shore of Lake Huron and about 400
metres below the lake level; and
WHEREAS, Ontario Power Generation did not consider or evaluate any
other actual sites for the location of the proposed DGR; and
WHEREAS, fresh water is the nation's and Canada's most important
resource and should be protected and managed prudently; and
WHEREAS, the Great Lakes are an irreplaceable natural resource and
provides the vast majority of the fresh water in North America; and
WHEREAS, Lake Michigan and Lake Huron are hydrologically connected as
one continuous water body and any contamination resulting from a leaking nuclear waste
repository located on Lake Huron could affect Lake Michigan's waters, the source of
drinking water for almost 7 million residents of 11 northeastern Illinois counties (Boone,
Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will); and
11-R-15
WHEREAS, Lake Huron and connecting waters including Lake St. Clair, are
a source of drinking water for millions of people downstream in Canada and United States
of America; and
WHEREAS, individuals, citizen and environmental groups and municipalities
and counties in both Canada and the United States have expressed concern and
opposition to the proposed nuclear waste repository; and
WHEREAS, as of September 22, 2014, one hundred thirty-three (133)
resolutions have been passed by communities in the States of Illinois, Michigan,
Minnesota, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio and Indiana and in the Province of
Ontario, which collectively represent 11 million citizens opposing the proposed nuclear
waste repository, with the vast majority of the resolutions opposing any permanent
underground nuclear waste repository anywhere in the Great Lakes basin; and
WHEREAS, the State of Michigan Senate has expressed serious concern over
the failure of the siting process in Ontario for the proposed OPG DGR to fully account for all
potential impacts of the proposed facility by passing a legislative package urging
intervention by the Great Lakes Commission, the International Joint Commission and a
special legislatively created advisory board. SB 948, SCR 16, SCR 17, SR 150 and SR 151
all have been passed unanimously by the Michigan Senate; and
WHEREAS, under the 2012 Protocol Amending the Agreement Between
Canada and the United States of America on Great Lakes Water Quality, the governments
of Canada and the United States acknowledge the importance of anticipating, preventing
and responding to threats to the waters of the Great Lakes; and
WHEREAS, the Governments of Canada and the United States share a
responsibility and an obligation to protect the Great Lakes from contamination from various
11-R-15
sources of pollution, including the leakage of nuclear waste from an underground nuclear
waste repository; and
WHEREAS, in September 2014 resolutions HR 716 and SR 565 have been
introduced respectively in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate expressing
the sense that (1) the Canadian Government should not allow a permanent nuclear waste
repository to be built within the Great Lakes Basin; (2) the President and the Secretary of
State should take appropriate action to work with the Canadian Government to prevent a
permanent nuclear waste repository from being built within the Great Lakes Basin; and (3)
the President and the Secretary of State should work together with their Canadian
Government counterparts on a safe and responsible solution for the long-term storage of
nuclear waste; and
WHEREAS, placing a permanent nuclear waste burial facility so close to the
Great Lakes is ill-advised. The potential damage to the Great Lakes from any leak or
breach of radioactivity far outweighs any suggested economic benefit that might be
derived from burying radioactive nuclear waste at this site. The ecology of the Great
Lakes, valuable beyond measure to the health and economic well-being of the entire
region, should not be placed at risk by storing radioactive nuclear waste underground so
close to the shoreline,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF EVANSTON, COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS:
SECTION 1: The foregoing recitals are incorporated herein by reference as
though fully restated.
SECTION 2: That in order to protect the Great Lakes and its tributaries, the
City of Evanston of Cook County, Illinois urges that neither this proposed nuclear waste
11-R-15
repository at the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station site nor any other underground nuclear
waste repository be constructed in the Great Lakes Basin, in Canada and the United States
property.
SECTION 3: That the amity of Evanston urges the Canadian government to
reject (and seek alternatives to) Ontario Power Generation's proposal to bury and
abandon radioactive nuclear waste in the Great Lakes Basin.
SECTION 4: In addition, the City of Evanston opposes the shipping of nuclear
waste associated with this or any other nuclear waste facility on the Great Lakes.
SECTION 5: That a copy of this Resolution shall be transmitted to Ontario
Premier Kathleen Wynne, Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Canada's Federal
Minister of the Environment Leona Aglukkaq, President of the United States, The Majority
Leader of U.S. Senate, the Speaker of U.S. House of Representatives, the members of
U.S. Congress representing Cook County, the Governor of the State of Illinois and any
other appropriate elected officials.
SECTION 6: That this Resolution 11-R-15 shall be in full force and effect from
and after its passage and approval in the manner provided by law.
I
Eli eth B. Tisdahl, Mayor
Attest:
Rodfney Gre e, City Clerk
�
Adopted: ���� 1 2015