HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolutions - 2015.07.16 - 21889REPORT (MISC. #15154) July 16, 2015
BY: General Government Committee, Christine Long, Chairperson
IN RE: MR #15154 — BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS — OBJECTION TO THE DEVELOPMENT
OF NUCLEAR WASTE REPOSITORY IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO THE GREAT LAKES
To the Oakland County Board of Commissioners
Chairperson, Ladies and Gentlemen:
The General Government Committee, having reviewed the above referenced resolution on July 6,
2015, reports with the recommendation the resolution be adopted.
Chairperson, on behalf of the General Government Committee, I move the acceptance of the
foregoing report.
GENERAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE
GENERAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE
Motion carried unanimously on a roll call vote.
MISCELLANEOUS RESOLUTION # 15154
Om,
BY: Commissioner Michael J. Gingell, District #1
IN RE: BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS — OBJECTION TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF NUCLEAR
WASTE REPOSITORY IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO THE GREAT LAKES
To the Oakland County Board of Commissioners
Chairperson, Ladies and Gentlemen:
WHEREAS Ontario Power Generation (OPG) is proposing to construct a deep geologic repository (DGR),
a underground long-term burial facility, at the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station site in Kincardine,
Ontario Canada; and
WHEREAS the purpose of this facility is to bury and abandon in the DGR all of Ontario's low and
intermediate level radioactive nuclear waste, some of which will remain highly radioactive and toxic for
over 100,000 years; and
WHEREAS the site of this proposed nuclear waste repository is approximately one kilometer inland from
the shore of Lake Huron and about 400 meters below the lake level; and
WHEREAS the Great Lakes contain 21% of the world's surface fresh water by volume and are used to
supply drinking water to tens of millions of people in bordering areas; and
WHEREAS the Great Lakes provide an irreplaceable, critical economic benefit to the entire region
through the agricultural, fishing and the tourism/recreation industries; and
WHEREAS the regional economic impact of the Great Lakes is estimated in excess of $4.7 trillion; and
WHEREAS Lake Huron and connecting waters are a source of drinking water for millions of people
downstream in Canada and the United States of America; and
WHEREAS individuals, citizen, environmental groups, and municipalities and counties in both Canada
and the United States have expressed concern and opposition to the location of the proposed nuclear
waste repository; and
WHEREAS as of March 31, 2015, 146 resolutions in opposition to the proposed facility have been passed
by communities in the States of Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio
and Indiana and in the Province of Ontario, representing 19.3 million citizens; and
WHEREAS under the 2012 Protocol Amending the Agreement between Canada and the United States of
America on Great Lakes Water Quality, the governments of Canada and the United States acknowledge
the importance of anticipating, preventing and responding to threats to the waters of the Great Lakes and
share a responsibility and an obligation to protect the Great Lakes from contamination from various
sources of pollution, including the leakage of nuclear waste from an underground nuclear waste
repository; and
WHEREAS in the 1980's, the United States agreed not to pursue a proposed nuclear waste facility within
the Great Lakes Basin at the request of the Canadian government; and
WHEREAS alternative sites that pose a much reduced risk to critical natural resources have not been
investigated; and
WHEREAS placing a permanent nuclear waste burial facility so close to the Great Lakes is ill-advised and
places the health, safety and welfare of millions of people at unnecessary risk; and
WHEREAS the proposed facility places the health and safety of the citizens of Oakland County and the
region who rely upon Lake Huron and it's basin as their primary drinking water source in serious jeopardy.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that Oakland County urges the Government of Canada and the
Government of Ontario to reject Ontario Power Generation's proposal to bury and abandon radioactive
nuclear waste in the Great Lakes Basin.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Oakland County calls upon our representatives in federal and state
government to take immediate action to formally object to the placement of this proposed facility to the
Canadian government and take necessary steps to protect the welfare of millions of citizens in the region.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Clerk of the County of Oakland is directed to forward a copy of this
resolution to the Premier of Ontario, the Prime Minister of Canada, Canada's Federal Minister of the
Environment, Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Canada's Minister of Natural Resources, the President
of the United States, the Joint Review Panel Deep Geological Repository for Low and Intermediate Level
Radioactive Waste, the United States Secretary of State, the President of the United States Senate, the
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the members of the Michigan congressional
delegation, the Governor of the State of Michigan, State Senate Majority and Minority Leaders, the State
House Speaker and Minority Leader, members of the Oakland County delegation to the Michigan
Legislature, the Michigan Association of Counties, the Macomb County Executive, the Wayne County
Executive and the Mayor of the City of Detroit.
Chairperson, I move the adoption of the foregoing Resolution.
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Resolution #15154 May 21, 2015
The Vice-Chairperson referred the resolution to the General Government Committee. There were no
objections.
Resolution #15154 July 16, 2015
Moved by KowaII supported by Bowman the resolutions (with fiscal notes attached) on the amended
Consent Agenda be adopted (with accompanying reports being accepted).
AYES: Dwyer, Fleming, Gershenson, Gingell, Gosselin, Hoffman, Jackson, KowaII, Long, Matis,
McGillivray, Middleton, Scott, Spisz, Taub, Weipert, Woodward, Bowman, Crawford. (19)
NAYS: None. (0)
A sufficient majority having voted in favor, the resolutions (with fiscal notes attached) on the amended
Consent Agenda were adopted (with accompanying reports being accepted).
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MEW AP E THIS RESOLUTON
CHIEF DEPUTY COUNTY EXE-:,::(..rrr,.4
ACTING PURSUANT TO MOL 45.559A (1)
STATE OF MICHIGAN)
COUNTY OF OAKLAND)
I, Lisa Brown, Clerk of the County of Oakland, do hereby certify that the foregoing resolution is a true and
accurate copy of a resolution adopted by the Oakland County Board of Commissioners on July 16, 2015,
with the original record thereof now remaining in my office.
In Testimony Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of the County of Oakland at
Pontiac, Michigan this 16th day of July 2015.
.„.1d,„/
Lisa Brown, Oakland County