Funding Awarded to Participate in the Environmental Assessment of the Ontario Power Generation’s Deep Geologic Repository Project

OTTAWA, Aug. 28 – The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (the Agency) has awarded $50 000 to six applicants in support of their participation in the environmental assessment process by a joint review panel for the proposed construction and operation of a Deep Geologic Repository for Low and Intermediate Level Radioactive Wastes by Ontario Power Generation (OPG) in Tiverton, Ontario, east of Lake Huron.

The funding recipients are: Northwatch Coalition for Environment Protection, Citizens for Renewable Energy, Greenpeace Canada, Saugeen Ojibway Nation, Citizens for Alternatives to Chemical Contamination and the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility. The funding is being made available to help successful applicants review and comment on the draft guidelines for the Environmental Impact Statement that will be produced by the project proponent, OPG, and/or to help applicants participate in public information meetings. Information on these future opportunities for public participation will be communicated at a later date.

A participant funding review committee, independent of the joint review panel, proponents, and interested parties, has examined the applications and provided recommendations on funding. The committee’s report along with further information on the project, are available on the Agency’s Web site at www.ceaa-acee.gc.ca.

Additional funds will be made available to help applicants review OPG’s Environmental Impact Statement and/or prepare for and participate in the public hearings. The second phase of funding will be announced at a later date.

The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency administers the federal environmental assessment process, which identifies the environmental effects of proposed projects and measures to address those effects, in support of sustainable development.

For further information: on the Participant Funding Program, contact: Suzanne Osborne, Participant Funding Program, Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, (613) 957-0254 (collect calls are accepted), Fax: (613) 948-9172, suzanne.osborne@ceaa-acee.gc.ca; Media may contact: Nicholas Girard, Senior Communications Advisor, Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, (613) 957-0958, nicholas.girard@ceaa-acee.gc.ca