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Pinehouse Lake moves to Step 3 in NWMO process The Settlement of Pinehouse
Lake decided to move to Step 3
in the Nuclear Waste Management
Organization’s (NWMO)
Adaptive Phased Management
project, the creation and development
and construction of
a Deep Geologic Repository
(DGR) for the long-term management
spent nuclear waste.
The decision was made
during a municipal meeting
held Monday, March 19 and
the motion was passed at their
Council meeting on Thursday,
March 29, said Mike Natomagan,
mayor of Pinehouse
Lake, in an interview with The
Northerner.
The meeting was held to
“talk about the NWMO and
why we are going to Step 3.”
Although there is opposition
in the community, Natomagan
said, “There are reasons why
we want to learn more. If we
can use that benefit to find
out more about our internal
needs.”
There are concerns that even
if the community says no to the
project in the future it will still
be built in the community, but
Natomagan said, that is not
the case.
The community is looking
to use the benefits of the process
to “move on” as part of a
process to look to a healthier
and more economically sound
future, because poverty and
welfare are not the answers
for the community’s future,
Natomagan said.
“The status quo ain’t good
enough here … welfare is not
always going to be here and
there’s no hope in welfare.”
The process is ongoing, as the
community has studied such
documents as the Eric Howe
study on the educational gaps
between Aboriginal people and
mainstream society in the north.
The Health Indicator Report is
also another document under
perusal in the Pinehouse Lake
process. “There is gaps there
and we need to address it.”
Concerns for the sustainable future
of the community include
health, education and housing,
Natomagan said. “The poverty
issue, that’s the bottom line.
Kids need a better opportunity
than this. Statistics show 51
per cent of kids live in poverty
and for us locally, people in the
community, you think they read
books to their kids? No, they’re
more worried about how do I
get the next meal.”
Inviting industry is one of
the solutions he sees as part of
the solution. “We need industry
in the north for Aboriginal
people to have hope.”
The move to Step 3 involves
a deeper desktop-type study of
the area.
The project is part of the
community’s exploration into
the future, not only for Pinehouse
Lake, but the whole
north.
Approximately 44 people
attended the meeting to discuss
the decision.
Mike Krizanc, communications
manager for the Nuclear
Waste Management Organization
(NWMO) outlined information
on the move from Step
2 to Step 3 in an interview with
The Northerner when Creighton
and English River First Nation
decide to move to Step 3. The
following includes information
provided in that interview.
Step 3 is “a continuation of
Step 2” which has two phases.
The first phase of Step 3
includes “more socio-economic
studies to assess the potential
income of the repository on
the community in terms of
Valerie G. Barnes-Connell
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