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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News Record, 2015-10-28, Page 7=1=1 ado, #. W O #1 nwmo w J sil'f rl.L.MC LI it L' ri # 411'. •� I.k'S a o tir, s, fern cr o sai Trail association turns vandalism into a positive volunteer experience Laura Broadley Clinton News Record It's not something the association had ever dealt with before. On Sept. 1 Don Vance was notified the Makin Bridge on the Wood- land Trail had been vandalized. In the nine years since the Bayfield River Valley Trail Association was started there had never been an incidence of vandalism. Dave Gillians, one of the founding members, said the bridge was destroyed, noting that someone had spent a lot of time and effort doing the damage. "This is so out of charac- ter, so troubling. It really shocked us," Gillians said. The BRVTA doesn't care to speculate on who commit- ted the vandalism. Vance said it's a small, tight -knit community and he's sure the culprit will be revealed eventually. But Vance and Gillians aren't focusing on the destruction, instead choos- ing to focus on what makes the community great. "The beauty is the com- munity involvement," Gil- lians said. The 14 kilometre trail sys- tem is used by children and grandparents alike. Jogging in the summer time and snow shoeing in the winter - there's something for everyone. There have been between 50 and 60 work parties to which they've had countless volunteers come out to help. Photo courtesy of Don Vance On Sept. 29 volunteers stepped up to held rebuild the Makin Bridge on the Woodland Trail. The bridge had been vandalized sometime at the end of August. The rebuild of the Makin Bridge took place on the rainy Sept. 29. Vance said Langford Lumber Home Building Centre in Clinton helped out with supplies. Six people helped bring the bridge back to full use: Doug Vanderhaar supplied a tractor and expertise for the build, Garnet McBride helped with anything needed, Greg Smith helped get materials to the site, Jack Pal is there for every work party on any given day and Adriaan Schreuder who works endlessly with the BRVTA and maintains the trails and Mark Wagner a contractor who left his work site to help with the build. Vance said the BRVTA owes a huge thank -you to the landowners who allow people to use the trails year- round; Dave and Susan Bender; Doug and Terry Zavitz; Hank and Rennie Vander Velde; Bill and Joyce Dowson and Gary Brandon. Potential problem with blades leads to some turbine shut down Laura Broadley Clinton News Record With the potential for falling debris, NextEra temporarily shut down some of its Ontario turbines. NextEra Energy Canada said it shut down certain turbines due to a potential problem with "a small thin plastic attachment on the turbine blades" that could become separated, Nex- tEra spokesperson, Josie Bird, said in an email. Turbines near roadways or other public access areas were shut down out of "an abun- dance of caution, Bird said. It was reported that some Bluewater farmers were told to keep 300 metres back from turbines on their property and to notify the wind farm operators when they were harvesting their crops near a turbine so the blade could be slowed. Bird said affected landown- ers were notified about what was happening. MPP for Huron -Bruce Lisa Thompson demanded third - party safety audits and standards for Ontario wind turbines during the Ontario Legislature on Oct. 20. She asked to stop any turbines deemed unsafe. Minister Glen Murray did not commit to immediately conducting a third party safety audit of the turbines. "There are challenges with every technology," Murray said. "This is an issue...of con- cern but to generalize it and suggest it is a problem with the particular technology I think is premature." Wednesday, October 28, 2015 • News Record 7 F Canada's plan for the long-term management of the country's used nuclear fuel requires that used fuel be safely and securely contained and isolated in a deep geological repository in a suitable rock formation. The NWMO is committed to implement Canada's plan in a manner that protects human health, safety, security and the environment. Q. What studies will be conducted to assess the safety of a site? A. The safety of any potential site will be assessed using a thorough site evaluation process and a comprehensive list of site evaluation criteria that are both technical and social in nature. It is expected that it will take years to complete all the site evaluations and studies that are necessary to confirm the suitability of a site. The site will be assessed in a series of steps. Each step is designed to evaluate the site in greater detail than the step before. A site may be found to be unsuitable at any stage of evaluation, at which point work at that site would cease and the site would no longer be considered for a deep geological repository. These studies will be conducted only in communities that have expressed an interest in the site selection process. Q. What are the initial screening criteria? A. Any site will need to first meet a minimum set of initial criteria in order to be considered. • The site must have available land of sufficient size to accommodate the surface and underground facilities. • This available land must be outside protected areas, heritage sites, provincial parks and national parks. • This available land must not contain known groundwater resources at the repository depth that could be used for drinking, agriculture or industrial uses, so that the repository site is unlikely to be disturbed by future generations. • This available land must not contain economically exploitable natural resources as known today, so that the repository site is unlikely to be disturbed by future generations. • This available land must not be located in areas with known geological and hydrogeological characteristics that would prevent the site from being safe. Potentially suitable sites that meet these initial criteria will be the subject of progressively more detailed studies in two primary areas: • First, ensuring safety - that is, the ability of the site to protect people and the environment, now and in the future. • Second, beyond safety- the effect of the project on the sustainability and well-being of the host community. Q. What will detailed studies examine? A. Detailed studies will focus on the following questions: 1. Are the characteristics of the rock at the site appropriate to ensuring the long-term containment and isolation of used nuclear fuel from humans, the environment and surface disturbances caused by human activities and natural events? 2. Is the rock formation at the site geologically stable and likely to remain stable over the very long term, considering geological and climate change processes such as earthquakes and glacial cycles? 3. Are conditions at the site suitable for the safe construction, operation and closure of the repository? 4. Is human intrusion at the site unlikely, for instance through future exploration or mining? 5. Can the geological conditions at the site be practically studied and described? 6. Can a transportation route be identified or developed by which used nuclear fuel can safely and securely be transported to the site from the locations at which it is stored? A robust safety case will be developed. The preferred site will be in a rock formation with desirable characteristics (geological, hydrogeological, chemical and mechanical). The rock formation must support containment and repository performance that meet or exceed the regulatory expectations of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, the guidance of the International Atomic Energy Agency and the experience in other countries with nuclear waste management programs. Dr. Mahrez Ben Belfadhel is the Director of Used Fuel Repository Geoscience at the Nuclear Waste Management Organization. His team is responsible for assessing the geoscientific suitability of potential host sites. Dr. Ben Belfadhel has more than 25 years of combined multidisciplinary experience in areas related to geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering. With the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, he worked as a geoscience and safety assessment specialist for 11 years, during which he also assumed the responsibility of Acting Director of the Waste and Decommissioning Division. He has maintained an active involvement in the international nuclear waste community, mainly through his work with the International Atomic Energy Agency. Dr. Ben Belfadhel has a bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from Ecole Polytechnique of Algiers, and a master's degree and Ph.D. in Geotechnical Engineering from Universite de Sherbrooke in Quebec. He is also a registered Professional Engineer. "Ask the NWMO" is a communication feature which is published on a regular basis in the Clinton News Record to respond to readers' questions about Canada's plan for the long-term management of used nuclear fuel. The Nuclear Waste Management Organization welcomes your questions. Please forward your questions to askthenwmo@nwmo.ca or call us at 416-934-9814.