NUKE WASTE DUMP: Ojibwe Country once again targeted

May 1, 2025
say-no

JUST SAY NO TO NUCLEAR WASTE DUMPING IN NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO!

Beyond Nuclear’s radioactive waste specialist, Kevin Kamps, presented “Water Is Life, Nuclear Waste Is Toxic” at the annual meeting of Environment North, in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, on the north shore of Lake Superior, April 23, 2025.

Environment North is the lead local grassroots organization resisting the Canadian federal Nuclear Waste Management Organization’s (NWMO, dominated by the nuclear industry, such as Ontario Power Generation) designation of the Ignace-Wabigoon Lake Ojibway First Nation area as the national radioactive waste dump.

A number of Ojibway First Nation Bands have also passed resolutions opposing the scheme, which would require long-distance, high-risk transportation of highly radioactive waste, from some two-dozen reactors to the east in Canada, on the Great Lakes, Saint Lawrence, and Atlantic.

See local coverage on April 22, 2025, quoting Kamps, by the Chronicle-Journal newspaper, here.

Watch a video recording of Kamps’ April 23, 2025 presentation, here. (Note that you can turn on the subtitles under Settings, to complement the audio.)

See Kevin’s slideshow presentation, here.

Listen to the audio recording, here, of Kamps being interviewed by host Scot Kyle, on the podcast “Wiley Koyote” on April 24, 2025. It was broadcast live on CILU Radio, 102.7 FM, as part of the Paradigm Shift Cafe, from the campus of Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Environment North’s Graham Saunders was also interviewed.

See Environment North’s press release about Kevin’s presentation, here.

See Environment North’s flier for Kevin’s presentation, here.

The Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal also ran a save-the-date article ahead of the event.

ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

Links provided by Environment North media/communications director, Wendy O’Connor, to Environment North nuclear opposition artistic efforts in the Thunder Bay, Ontario area:

Watch the video of the pantomime Environment North did for its 50th Anniversary, where they spoofed NWMO “experts” and “learning more” (with Graham Saunders of Environment North as head of the NWMO and a great performance by Pete Lang as a “white coat”).

On the the Nuclear Free North YouTube channel:
COVID-era (2022) adaptation of John Stewart’s “Gold” by the Fabulous Core Band (mostly Environment North’s ally Pete Lang’s family – Pete and Wendy wrote the lyrics). The narrator at the beginning is Pete’s granddaughter, who also drums in the recording. Environment North’s comrade the late Scott Harris sings.
https://youtu.be/28BjBP6Jdbo?si=HJwaQHTKS8g1AGNJ
Local artist Rodney Brown’s newest version of his song “Freight Train Derailed” with footage of Thunder Bay walks and rallies – great song and video! (2022) Almost no costs for local production and videography, provided by artists sympathetic to the cause. Several folks who networked with Kevin Kamps and attended his presentation appear in the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUQLfIHJb5I
Wendy’s adaptation of The Sound of Silence (“The Span of Half-Lives”, 2022)
A short piece Wendy put together based on the most egregious of the many misleading utterances of NWMO representative Joe Heil at a local rural NWMO Open House in 2023. Joe Heil is a member of Ojibway Nation on the Thames in southern Ontario, brought up north by the NWMO.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jx04s-qP5Qk
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During Kevin’s presentation on April 23, an audience member asked how to motivate more people to get involved, to stop the proposed nuke waste dump.
Kevin responded by encouraging incorporating the arts.
A local Thunder Bay playwright, William Victor Roberts, attended Kevin’s presentation on April 23. Roberts wrote the play “Dancing with the Daughters of Radon” during the late 1970s, regarding the Elliot Lake, Ontario uranium mines and mills, impacting the Serpent River First Nation. William can be heard talking about his experiences at Serpent River First Nation in 1979 during the Q&A session after Kevin’s presentation. He also talks about his play.
Local Thunder Bay musician Rodney Brown also composed a song of the same title, “Dancing with the Daughters of Radon.”
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Links to articles by Elysia Petrone, et al., posted here with her permission. Kevin had the honor and privilege of meeting Elysia and her children at the Fort William First Nation near Thunder Bay during his visit there:

Ottawa needs to step in before nuclear waste project goes any further: It must ensure the $26 billion dollar plan to bury bundles in northwestern Ontario does not advance without consent of potentially affected First Nations

by Warren Bernauer and Elysia Petrone, Policy Options, March 10, 2025

 

Nuclear industry selects site in northwestern Ontario for waste disposal amidst regional opposition: Assembly of First Nations calls for new approach to Indigenous consultation and consent

by Warren Bernauer and Elysia Petrone, Canadian Dimension, December 3, 2024.

 

First Nations and allies resist nuclear repository: If Canada is to have a just transition away from fossil fuels it cannot be based on nuclear power.

by Warren Bernauer, Laura Tanguay, Elysia Petrone and Brennain Lloyd, Canadian Dimension, June 28, 2024.

 

Kevin’s host in Thunder Bay, Graham Saunders, shared a personal experience with Kevin, and also gave Kevin permission to post a written version of the story here. It is related to French nuclear weapons testing in Tahiti. See Graham’s write up, here.

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