Eastern Ontario Rural Communities at Risk! Viewpoint of a Frontenac/Lanark County Resident

1. Eastern Ontario Rural Communities at Risk! Viewpoint of a Frontenac/Lanark County Resident John Kittle, Bsc, Msc Community Coalition Against Mining Uranium www.ccamu.ca 7th March 2008

2. Overview • 13 area Councils, scores of organizations and thousands of voters opposed to uranium exploitation in eastern Ontario • Uranium exploitation is “wet blanket” on property values, traditional land uses and rural businesses • Ontario is mining-friendly … major gaps in Ontario’s mining & environmental regulatory regimes put us all at risk • Environmental track record of most mining companies is not something to be proud of • This is urgent … we must work together to lobby the Province to act immediately to protect us before serious damage occurs to our environment, health and rural economy

3. What is the Threat? • Active uranium exploration in several major watersheds in eastern Ontario • Most junior mining companies not equipped to deal with radioactive accidents • Risk of radioactive contamination of groundwater & wells, radon gas releases • Environmental & public health risks • “Wet blanket” on traditional rural businesses

4. Wide-Spread Opposition to Uranium Exploitation in E. Ontario • Very large base of opposition: • 13 eastern Ontario Councils petitioning Province for moratorium • Scores of business organizations opposed • Algonquin First Nations – ancestral lands impacted • Thousands of residents have signed petitions • Major issue in 2007 Provincial election in Lanark/Frontenac/Lennox/ Addington riding

5. List of Supporting Organizations • 13 Municipal Councils …City of Ottawa,City of Kingston, Frontenac County, Lanark County, Perth, North Frontenac, Central Frontenac, South Frontenac, Lanark Highlands, Tay Valley, Mississippi Mills, Carleton Place, Beckwith … others in process • Federal/Provincial Politicians …Michael Colle (MPP Lib), Scott Reid (MP Cons) , Randy Hillier (MPP Cons), Howard Hampton (NDP), Elizabeth May (Green), Frank de Jong (Green), Peter Tabuns (NDP) • Organizations, Associations … David Suzuki FoundationAmnesty International Greenpeace Canada Mining Watch Canada National Farmers’ Union Algonquin to Adirondacks Conservation Association United Church of Canada Land O’Lakes Tourist Association Mississippi Valley Conservation Lanark Landowners’ Association Ontario Landowners’ Association Dalhousie Lake Association McDonalds Corners & Elphin Rec & Arts Buckshot Lake Cottagers Association Malcolm Lake Landowners Association Ardoch Algonquin First Nation Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation Algonquins of Ontario Mississippi Lake Association White Lake Cottage Association Mississippi Valley Field NaturalistsBedford Mining Alert Citizens’ Mining Advisory Group (CMAG)Friends of the Tay Watershed Assoc ACTCity, OttawaOttawa Coalition Against Mining Uranium Ecology OttawaInternational Land Coalition Ontario Nature • Over 5000 eastern Ontario people have signed petitions supporting call for moratorium

6. Ontario is Mining-Friendly, NOT Citizen-Friendly • Since 1996, mining exploration companies given a free rein in Ontario: • Environmental assessment requirement removed at exploration stage • No permission required from landowners or municipalities • No water tests; no well tests; no assessment of species at risk • No public or First Nations consultation required • Ontario Mining Act allows free-entry: • With no notice, companies can stake your property • With 24 hours notice, they can clear-cut, build roads, remove up to 1000 tons of materials; and can drill hundreds of core sample holes, to any depth • Worse, Ontario’s Crown land is wide open for mining

7. Gaps in Ontario Environmental Controls • Large gaps exist in the governance of Ontario’s environmental legislation: • Scores of junior mining companies “driving trucks” through these gaps • Companies are self regulated at the exploration stage … environmental protection on the honour system! • Black-and-white contrast to treatment of rural developers in Ontario! • Our calls to Provincial MNDM, MOE, MNR, Public Health, Ontario Fire Marshall and federal authorities confirmed that no one monitors or controls mining exploration companies … classic bureaucratic “run-around” • In eastern Ontario, uranium is the mineral being explored for, so lack of governance and environmental oversight creates an unacceptable level of risk to the environment and public health • Province risking another Walkerton, but much worse!

8. A Case in Point ! • Junior mining exploration company active in Frontenac County • Company principals are venture capitalists • Local contractors hired for road-building, land clearing, surface sampling … work is already in process • Plan to drill 119 exploratory holes in Mississippi watershed! • This is all completely legal under Ontario’s mining and environmental regimes

9. Frontenac County Uranium Exploration Drilling Program

10. A Case in Point (cont) • Target exploration area: • Environmentally sensitive area of Mississippi River watershed • Mostly Crown land • Fractured bedrock, complex geology/aquifer system • Laced with wetlands, streams, lakes, rivers, wildlife habitats • Provincial designation as “remote access area” • Adjacent to Provincial conservation reserves • Several villages and hundreds of full-time & seasonal residents nearby • Algonquin ancestral lands

11. Uranium and its “Daughter” Products are the Most Deadly on Earth • Uranium “daughter” products include radon gas, thorium, polonium and radium, to name a few • At the exploration stage: • Radioactive contamination can be released into groundwater & aquifers from core sample drilling, excavation and overburden removal • Because of its deadly properties and the high risk to public safety, uranium should be treated by the Province as an environmental special case • But … Ontario Mining Act and environmental legislation is completely silent on this deadly threat to its citizens

12. Environmental Track Record of most Mining Companies NOT Something to be Proud of • If a uranium mine is developed, risks multiply a thousand-fold! • Long-term containment of millions of tons of radioactive tailings is an unsolved problem. • In 2003 and 2006, Cameco in northern Saskatchewan, the world’s largest uranium producer, suffered three major flood-related spills • In 2005, the Ontario Auditor General identified, out of 5600 abandoned mine sites in Ontario, 4000 are “potentially hazardous to public health and safety”, and at least 250 “might pose an environmental risk due to the potential for the leaching of minerals and other contaminants from mine tailings”.

13. Health Risks • Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Act states: “primary cancers of the trachea, bronchus and lung among workers previously employed in uranium mining in Ontario are recognized as occupational diseases under the Workplace Safety & Insurance Act. They are both characteristic of uranium mining and result from exposure to ionizing radiation relating to the uranium mining industry”. • In 2005, the US National Academy of Sciences released results of a study reporting: “there is no safe level of exposure to radiation—that even very low doses can cause cancer. Risks from low dose radiation are equal or greater than previously thought.” • Dr. Douglas Chambers noted in a 2004 Health Canada Radon Workshop on residential health risks that “radon has long been recognized as an underground mining hazard; however its recognition as a significant hazard in residential environments is a more recent development.”

14. Health Risks (cont) • Dr. Gordon Edwards, founder of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility, states: “Mining uranium releases large amounts of radioactive radon gas, which is much heavier than air. The radon will follow the path of the prevailing winds in eastern Ontario, from west to east, depositing solid radioactive fallout (mainly radioactive lead and polonium) on a wide swath of land from Sharbot Lake to the City of Ottawa and beyond.  Such radioactive deposits, entering into the food chain, will pose a gradually accumulating health risk to the population – especially children.”

15. Ontario Uranium is NOT Needed to Fuel Province’s Reactors • This risk is unnecessary! • Ontario gets all of its uranium from northern Saskatchewan • No uranium is currently mined in Ontario • Over 85% of N. Saskatchewan uranium is exported, mostly to the US • Ontario uranium is low-grade • 0.1% compared to 10%-20% in N. Saskatchewan • Difficult to justify from economic viewpoint • If mined, there will be up to 200 times more radioactive waste • Stockpiles and N. Saskatchewan production will last 50+ years • Current exploration driven by high uranium price, not demand or need

16. We Must Lobby the Province to Protect Us! • The Province has a duty to protect its citizens! • We are lobbying the McGuinty government for an immediate moratorium against uranium exploitation in eastern Ontario to allow proper environmental, health and economic impact assessments; and resolution of First Nations land claims • This is urgent … • Scores of junior exploration companies are active right now throughout eastern Ontario & western Quebec • Serious risk to eastern Ontario’s environment, public health, and municipal economies

17. Questions?