Hornepayne Facebook Poll RE: Nuclear Waste

The Nuclear debate continues in Hornepayne. A personal Facebook poll was conducted this week. 

The poll was created and was accessible for a day. It was posted in several Facebook groups and shared by a few individuals. A total of 87 people voted.

The results: 

87 people is a fraction of the Hornepayne population, but it does give a snapshot sample of where the people are at: The majority are not in favour of hosting Nuclear Waste in Hornepayne. 

A day in the life of the Opposition...

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love Prophetic Symbolisms. My Facebook account of "Bee Alive" is not a mask that I hide behind but a declaration! I guess nobody informed our local troll.

I made a comment on the CNSC's post a few days ago. This morning, I tried to access my Facebook account and found that I was logged out. To access my account, I am now being required to upload my ID. Oddly (through another Facebook access), I have found my CNSC's post gone and replaced with Jaro's.

Our Mayor and Council got us involved with this "Learn More" process and for those of us who are opposed, it sure has been frustrating . Besides being followed around online by these paid nuclear discredit-ors, the opposition have been at a constant disadvantage locally. From the pro-majority representation on the CLC, to organizing (and financing) our own speakers, to the constant ignoring of our SCIENTIFICALLY BASED and socially based concerns, to failing to record our deputations in the CLC minutes...

And yes, I  believe that radiation results in secondary cancers. It's all true. :)

PS. He doesn't only follow us on Facebook.... http://rabble.ca/news/2015/04/coincidence-or-success-nuclear-waste-facility-drops-towns-after-protest#comment-1953162230

What I have learned on my nuclear journey, so far.

To: Jackfish Journal 
Hornepayne, Ontario

April 28, 2013
Letter to the Editor,

I started learning about Nuclear in the summer of 2011. It was a brand new subject for me. There was a lot of discussion on the Facebook Group “Let’s Rebuild Hornepayne”. We were told to keep an open mind, and I certainly did that. I wasn’t put off by the word “nuclear waste” and I looked at all sides of this to the best that I could. One of the major discussions had to do with safety. Back in those days we all immersed ourselves in NWMO’s info. It seemed all good and safe. There was a time I was for this.

Hornepayne is in the “learn more process” which means they hope we are each learning more about this. As my personal learning process continued I started to see another side of this Nuclear Industry, a side not portrayed by NWMO. The other side is the exact opposite of what the Pro-nuke people say. The research results are different, the death counts are different, and the levels of expected safety standards seem different. I found very educated experts who did not support the safety claims of the industry. And now, instead of "what to believe" (science) it has been all about deciding who to believe.

This is what I have found:

·        
The Science that supports Nuclear is often peer reviewed. This means industry paid scientists confirm the results of industry paid research and the results always support the industry. In the news recently it has been exposed that our Canadian Scientists have been muzzled by the government. 

·         When it comes to radiation exposure, the long term effects are rarely accounts for. If you research Chernobyl for example, you will find many different death tolls. The effects of radiation may take decades before it kills; the industry often does not account for these deaths. This is how the Industry keeps their death print looking so good.

·         Of great interest is the story about Linda Keen. She was the CEO and President of the CNSC from 2001–08. (CNSC is the Canadian Regulator that oversees nuclear safety. They will be overseeing the safety of the DGR.) When she shut down one of the reactors for safety reasons she was fired! Continually I see that money is more important than safely.

Because this debate has more to do with, who are you going to believe and not about science, we see more character assassinating than we do truthful evidence. On our Facebook Group “Concerned Citizens of Hornepayne” there has not been a single anti-nuke expert that the pro-nukers have accepted. It does not matter what their degree or their level of expertise. Anyone who speaks against nuclear is considered to be wrong and “uneducated”. Even Greenpeace is not accepted as credible! Another popular name for those who oppose nuclear is “fear monger” which I have found to be untrue. There are many educated people out there who have valid reasons to disagree with what the industry claims.

So that is where I am in this debate. Those who are not benefiting financially from the Nuclear Industry do not accept this plan as being safe for the amount of time that the waste will be active. On the other side, the story is the exact opposite. Who are we to trust? For me, I trust the people who have nothing to gain from what they claim. What they teach is not influenced by a love for money. They have been persecuted by the industry and still they keep to their story. I’ve considered their reasons and I find myself believing what they say. There is no evidence of deception. On the other side, I see denials of deaths (like Deline), a CEO in charge of safety fired for doing her job, and denials of how far reaching accidents are (like Fukushima). The exposures of corrupt practices cause me to mistrust.

We are waiting to hear back from the CLC regarding a petition. It has been rumored that if we can show, through a petition that the majority of Hornepayne is opposed to this then council will withdraw from this process. If a petition will be considered we will be circulating one soon.

Bev Allen.
Concerned Citizen of Hornepayne.

Idle No More...Thank God!

 

Again our land is being put at risk for the sake of a dollar.
A blocked road temporarily disturbs the road system. A broken pipe line that is laid under 800 rivers won't be a temporary annoyance.
Our country is in Danger. Clean Land and Drinkable Water are our greatest Resources. Money won't be of much value when these resources are greatly limited.
The First Peoples value their land more than money.
The root of all evil is the LOVE of money.
"God keep our land, glorious and free."

I'm praying for this Movement called "Idle No More". Our society is in need of knowing the Heart of the First Peoples. Their ways are not our ways. We have a long history of trying to kill "their ways" so only ours remain. If we were successful, our Country's destruction would be guaranteed. In this time we need to learn about "their ways" and honor them by restructuring our Country's priorities to reflect their presence!

I hear some speak negatively about the road blocks. I look at it this way: the road system is a "white man" system and they're causing little chaos compared to the chaos that has been caused to their systems. We know little about the chaos that we have caused because we still know little about "their ways". Their Heart is for the Land- they Love the Land. It's sacred to them.

Our Country is in danger right now and it will be as long as the economy is our #1 priority. It should be A priority but it shouldn't be governing all our decisions. I'd like to see the protection of our land and water as the #1 priority in Canada. Keep our land safe and then make money. We need "their ways" to influence "our ways". This is truly a pivotal time in Canadian History. Change is on the horizon.   

Gambling vs. Working

‎Two years go we were all so passionate about our little town in the North. We were united in our desires to "Save Hornepayne" and to "Rebuild"..what's happened since then? Instead of working together and moving forward, we got side tracked by the prospect of an "easier" way. In our quest to find "New Work" we stopped off at the "Casino". The big numbers have us dreaming and NWMO is whispering in our ear hoping to convince us to put our home into their slot machine.

Nuclear Waste is a gamble; it's not a solid economic plan. It doesn't involve any amount of work, in fact all we have to do is put our town on the line and take a huge risk with our future. In return we might "win" a one time payout or we could lose it all. We do know it's a short lived plan; a temporary project. The funds are a one time thing and not a continued paycheck. That's the way it is with a gamble. If we want a "paycheck" we will have to work for it.

Our Mall had an expiry date and now this project has an expiry date. Can we give up on the temporary solutions and build something that will last and benefit many generations? Can we build in a way that will bless our future generations instead of cause them grief? There will be smaller risks to take along the way, but like we recently heard, "we should never risk more than what we are willing to lose".

Letter to the Editor Jackfish Journal

November 9, 2012

Letter to the editor,

This letter is in response to the article “CBC Fair and unbiased?” that was printed in the October 31^st issue of the Jackfish Journal.

As someone who is opposed to the Nuclear Waste I found some of the claims in that article disturbing. According to Statistics Canada, there’s a total of 5600 Communities in our County. Out of all the communities only 21 chose to explore this idea. We are told the benefits will be amazing if we end up as the “Host” community, and yet 99.6% of Canada didn’t touch this “opportunity”.  

Mayor Morley and Willy, the Chairman of the CLC, are displeased with the negative slant that CBC took in their reporting. They claim CBC was unfair and biased against the process that Hornepayne is in. They are displeased that CBC didn’t ask any questions about the “potential economic development that could result from being the ‘Host’ community”. Mayor Morley had many “inspiring things to say about our community and our prospects for the future” but CBC was not interested and those comments were cut. I can say that for many of us, the “benefits” of this “opportunity” are not the focus.

The Chairman of the CLC states that “referring to this as a ‘dump’ is highly misleading.” What I think is misleading is the image that they want to portray to our Community: a “high end”, “prestige” place for the burial of Waste. It’s High Level Radioactive Garbage that the nuclear industry wants to plant in our clean land. It’s going to cost the industry 26 Billion dollars to bury it here. An expensive dump is still a dump.

When Willy was asked if the DGR project will be risky for the host community he immediately focuses the reader to the benefits that may come as a result. “Risk is what one perceives it to be” he says.  And he also states that we live with risk every day. But I don’t have to be an expert to conclude how bad this stuff is. They want to bury it 500 meters in the ground- that’s about CN Tower deep underground. What does that say about it? Nuclear Waste is solid therefore it can’t leak, but the waste contains High Level Radiation which is neither solid, liquid, or gas but it CAN leak and contaminate our environment. The DGR is going to be a man made barrier designed to keep the toxic poison from leaking into our land. This stuff will be active for 100,000 years. Have you known man to build anything that can withstand that amount of time? The risks are real and the benefits do not compare.

Mayor Morley was asked about public education to which he replied “That is the function of the LEARN MORE process…”. The CLC was created to help our town with the learning process. In their minutes dated May 3, 2012 it states:
"Committee voiced concerns that we are not keeping our committee activities public and visible enough. The question was asked what can the committee publicize, what will be the procedure and process to release information to the community? The CLC would like to be able to publish on a local level the activities of our committee. The publishing of upcoming events and information about our committee activities, which will continue to engage the community, reassure transparency and foster trust between the community and the CLC. The committee will publish only information and activities of the CLC staying away from factual information. The committee will continue to send all published material to NWMO." http://clcinfo.ca/hornepayne/files/2012/08/NWCLC-Minutes-05-03-12.pdf    

This reveals to me that NWMO is being permitted to filter the information that we receive in this learning process. I encourage you to get on the internet and do your own research. We need to learn more than what NWMO is releasing into our community. Do not rely on this one source. There are many different voices out there that have different things to say about this project.  (You can start your search and share your findings at www.wesayno.ca.)

“In response to the question about the image of the community that will eventually host the repository Willy stated that; ‘The image of the host community will be something that all other communities will strive for. Keep in mind that the host community will be the only one of its kind in Canada.” This “opportunity” was extended to every municipality in Canada and again, 99.6% of Canada did not view this as something that would be good for their community.

Canada is adopting the same DGR model as Sweden. Sweden is further along than Canada. It was released last week that in their review of the plan, the Swedish review board has found some “Major Shortcomings”. Here’s a quote from the article:
“The Swedish regulator has found that the Swedish industry’s nuclear waste burial plan is deficient in several key areas, and that it lacked the necessary information related to the long-term safety of the project and the protection of human health, and that further research may be required to address information gaps related to the long term integrity of the copper canisters that would be used to store the highly radioactive nuclear fuel waste.”

http://knownuclearwaste.wordpress.com/2012/10/31/setback-for-nuclear-waste-burial-swedish-review-finds-major-shortcomings-october-2012/

Yet we are continually reassured by our leaders that the proposed plan is “very safe” and the risks are minimal.

Willy states that “the nuclear industry is the safest most highly regulated industry in the world”. And this may be true but when there’s an accident, and there has been some, it’s considered a disaster. Three Mile Island in the United States, Chernobyl in the former Soviet Union, and most recently Fukushima in Japan are examples. The industry is run by humans who occasionally make errors and it’s done in a world that is not free of natural disasters. The facility that they want to build here is yet to exist anywhere in the world. Maybe Sweden will have their facility built before we do, but still we’re going to be the gunny pigs for this new technology. Have you known man to typically get everything right on the first try? Hornepayne’s future generations will be left with the consequences of our errors.  

The article concludes with, “According to our Mayor and the Community Liaison Committee chairman, all evidence indicates that that this is a very safe proposal and it will economically benefit the community of Hornepayne.” 

I think I’ll conclude with that statement too.

Bev Allen.
www.wesayno.ca

Don't take the bait

We're in the Nuclear Waste process because we chose to be. Actually, the community didn't choose, the leaders chose to throw our names into the hat. "It's a good opportunity for us to look into, and we're not obligated in any way", many say. We're in the "learning process" so if it comes down to a community vote we'll be "educated".

I learned last week that the committee that was set up a year ago to help educate the community is not working with NWMO but they are working under NWMO. They've allowed NWMO to filter all the information that the community receives. The committee has asked many questions over the past year yet they have agreed to stay away from releasing anything factual, and that includes any answers that NWMO has provided the committee. So far, answers to roughly 15 questions have been released to the community. There have been a few open houses where NWMO brought in their experts. Of course, we have been informed to direct all our questions to them.

We need to come out from under NWMO. We can certainly learn about this process without them. Wouldn't it be better to have unbiased sources of information? But, can we really eliminate them? What would it cost us at this point? Well, NWMO has already created a few jobs in our community and they have rented a house. Members of the CLC have gone on educational trips with all expenses paid by NWMO. We're not obligated in any way, BUT if we CHOOSE to turn our backs on NWMO today we would be left without any funds to educate ourselves, we would lose the jobs and our committee would lose their office.

It seems to me that Hornepayne is already taking the bait. It's true that we'll have the option to choose, but the longer we stay in this process the more it's going to cost us to say "no".