[NukeNet] CBC: Ottawa council calls for uranium moratorium in eastern Ontario

[Kay Cumbow]

From: Gordon Edwards <ccnr at web.ca>
X-ASG-Orig-Subj: CBC: Ottawa council calls for uranium moratorium 
in  eastern Ontario
Subject: CBC: Ottawa council calls for uranium moratorium in  eastern Ontario
Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 11:07:20 -0500

Thanks to Jack Hicks for this:

Ottawa council calls for
uranium moratorium in eastern Ontario

CBC News
February 27, 2008

OTTAWA (CBC) - Ottawa city council is urging Ontario Premier Dalton
McGuinty to temporarily ban uranium prospecting, exploration and
mining in
eastern Ontario and the Ottawa River watershed.

The council voted 18-1 Wednesday in favour of a motion calling on the
province to impose the moratorium immediately and to keep it in effect
until:

- All environmental and health issues related to uranium mining are
"resolved."

- There are settlement plans for all related aboriginal land claims.

The same motion calls on the province to do a public review of its 1990
Mining Act.

The motion had been recommended by the city's community and protective
services committee after the city received a petition with 1,000
signatures opposing uranium mining and exploration in eastern Ontario.

It had also received a call for help from the Ardoch Algonquin First
Nation near Sharbot Lake, Ont., which has been fighting uranium
exploration on land it claims as its own. The site is about 100
kilometres
southwest of Ottawa.

Councillors voice concerns

Before passing the motion, many councillors, including Marianne
Wilkinson,
expressed concern about the potential health risks of uranium mining.

"With a large urban centre, you've got to be very careful with how
you're
exposing the radioactive materials," she said. "We certainly don't
want it
getting into the Ottawa River, which is our drinking water supply."

David Salisbury, the city's chief medical officer of health, said a mine
in Sharbot Lake could pose a health risk in Ottawa.

"It doesn't take much from a run-off point of view to get into the
aquifer
and then contaminate that aquifer and make that unusable for human
consumption," he said. "Removing heavy metals from human water
supplies is
very difficult."

The lone councillor who voted against the motion, Gord Hunter, argued
that
the council was overstepping its jurisdiction, as mineral rights are a
provincial responsibility.

He added that he is concerned that the city has only heard from uranium
opponents and isn't getting the other side of the story.

He also said he is not sure the risks are as serious as opponents say.

Nuclear power using uranium as fuel is one of the "best proven
alternatives" to burning fossil fuels as a source of electricity, Hunter
said. The uranium mining industry has also attracted new residents to
areas such as Elliott Lake, Ont., and Uranium City, Sask., he said.

A community and protective services committee report on the issue noted
that under the Mining Act, licensed prospectors have a statutory
right to
stake mining claims and conduct assessment work on the given properties
even if the surface rights are privately held.

The act also states that the holder of the claim doesn't need to inform
the landowner about prospecting activities until just before that
activity
takes place.