February 06, 2016

No IJC Involvement in Lake Huron Waste Facility Dispute: State Dept.

By ExchangeMonitor

The State Department said Friday it would not request that the U.S.-Canada International Joint Commission (IJC) intercede in the dispute over a Canadian power company’s plans to build a low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste storage facility near Lake Huron.

U.S. Rep. Candice Miller (R-Mich.) said in a newspaper commentary last week that she had urged the department to “pursue intervention” by the IJC, which under the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty has authority to regulate water usage in the nations’ shared waters and recommend options to resolve transboundary issues. An IJC spokesman said that, upon receipt of a joint letter from both governments, the commission could take actions including studying the environmental dangers posed by the facility or recommending alternative locations.

“The State Department does not intend to refer this matter to the U.S.-Canada International Joint Commission,” a department official said by email Friday. “We refer you to the Government of Canada for information on the proposal and any potential decision that may come about.”

The official did not say whether the Obama administration has taken a position on the facility.

The new Liberal government in Canada is expected by March 1 to decide whether Ontario Power Generation can move ahead with construction of a deep geologic repository for storage of 200,000 cubic meters of waste from its Bruce, Pickering, and Darlington power stations. Critics, including a number of U.S. lawmakers, have decried locating such waste less than a mile from a key source of drinking water for both nations. Ontario Power Generation says multiple studies have shown the facility would pose no threat to the environment or public.

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