By Rosalind Russell – The Ministry of Mines says the process to move low radiation material from Nipissing First Nation to the decommissioned Agnew Lake Mines site has been in the works for a while.
In a letter to Nairn & Hyman Township, ministry spokesperson Erik Cobbs says the ministry will take several steps for remediation if the Agnew Lake Mine site is used to dispose of the material commonly called NORM.
Cobbs says the mine tailings area was identified as the preferred receiving site for the material from a mine east of Sudbury, adding it had been originally deposited on Nipissing First Nation reserve land adjacent to a Ministry of Transportation aggregate pit.
He says the waste products are not considered hazardous waste but have been classified as naturally occurring radioactive material noting they cannot be brought to regular landfills sites.
He adds the radiation shielding at the current site would be improved and be sufficient to mitigate radiation doses to non-permanent site users.
Cobbs says the mines Waste Nuclear Substance Licence was renewed in 2020 allowing the move to the Agnew Lake Mine Tailings Site adding it would be covered with at least one metre of soil cover, topsoil and rehabilitation greenery.
Cobbs says an assessment of possible environmental and public health and safety risks depositing NORM to the Agnew site would not increase the environmental, public health or safety risk as it relates to radioactivity, radon inhalation or contaminants of concern.
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