SAUGEEN FIRST NATION CHIEF VERNON ROOTE TOLD THE

North Bay Nugget that his community is opposed to a plan to bury nuclear waste near Lake Huron. “Of course we are opposed to it. In our community that I represent ... there are no members that are agreeable to the burial at the site at this time.” Ontario Power Generation received approval in May from a federal review panel, but OPG said approval of the First Nation is necessary for the project to go ahead. Roote said contamination of the Great Lakes is a big concern. “If something were to happen with the disposal or the leakage of nuclear waste, I wouldn’t want to be drinking the water downstream,” he said. “That means the balance of Lake Huron, Lake Erie, Lake Ontario and also anyone drinking from those lakes, even into the U.S.A.” The plan is to bury low- and intermediate grade radioactive waste from the three nuclear plants in Ontario. It will be buried in a deep shaft at the Bruce nuclear site near Kincardine, Ont. on the traditional territory of the Saugeen Nation, which includes the Chippewas of Nawash First Nation.