The Municipality of South Bruce hopes all residents and ratepayers will join the consultation process on how to determine the community’s willingness to host a Deep Geologic repository to store used nuclear fuel.
The Municipality said people can join one of twelve, one hour in-person workshops on July 28th and 29th in Formosa, Mildmay, and Teeswater to discuss the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) Project. The Municipality hired a community engagement consultant, GHD Limited, to facilitate the process,
Residents who can't attend can pick up a fillable workbook from the Municipal Office or Formosa, Mildmay, or Teeswater Library; or complete the online survey. A media release reported that the NWMO is not involved in this consultation process and NWMO staff are not present at community workshops.
The release said Council, in collaboration with what they heard from residents, established 36 Guiding Principles in the Fall of 2020 to guide the Municipality’s consideration of the Project. In particular, Principle #9 captures the importance of having an open and transparent process that allows the community to express its level of willingness to host the Project in a manner that is independent of the NWMO. The municipality said that includes community workshops as one of several methods to gather input. Workshops are facilitated by GHD, with support from Municipal staff.
“We encourage members of our community to participate in this process. This is an important opportunity, for us to understand how our residents want to measure their willingness to host the Project,” said Mayor Robert Buckle.
Residents and ratepayers who have yet to provide input and cannot attend in-person, are invited to tool, www.southbruceswitchboard.ca by August 13th. There is also the opportunity to speak to a member of GHD’s consultation team directly by phone (1-833-583-2613) or email (WillingnessStudy@ghd.com).
All input on willingness received by GHD will be reported back to the community in the second phase of consultation, and then to Council in the Fall of 2021.
Additional information on the consultation activities, including the in-person workshops can be found at www.southbruceswitchboard.ca.