New Nuclear Plant at Wesleyville

The new nuclear plant, its size and location in Wesleyville is a travesty to Lake Ontario and to our countryside and residential development.  This project could cost BILLIONS OF DOLLARS and will not be completed until the 2040’s!  This is untenable.  And the costs will inflate much more over the next 15 years.

Current scientific reports, some published after the proponent's proposal, indicate that renewable, sustainable alternate electricity generation of wind, both onshore and offshore, solar power, storage batteries, and conservation can provide the electricity we need for our transportation electrification, building heating and cooling, industrial electrification, and AI data centres at a fraction of the cost of new nuclear, not only in terms of construction and ongoing maintenance of a nuclear power plant, but also for the cost of electricity for all Ontarians. Why is this being ignored? Alternative electricity generation can be spread out where it is needed, is not a terrorist threat, doesn’t leak radiation, can abut farmland without harming it and is quicker, easier and less costly to install and maintain. We have viable economic alternatives OPG is ignoring and the IACC is not considering, notwithstanding its legal obligation to do so. 

There should be a full environmental assessment that details disclosure of the total land footprint not just the reactor site, water sourcing and discharge, agricultural and environmental impacts, independent studies of the hydrogeological assessments and economic impact on agriculture vs energy jobs.

Ontario loses about 319 acres of productive farmland every day due to development. The Biggest Nuclear Power Plant In The World (BNPPITW) here would result is thousands of prime agricultural acres gone forever.  This is a farming community with many  generations of active farming families on class I and 2 prime  agricultural lands. Our farms have produced food crops and livestock for many decades, some for over 100 years. Agriculture is the mainstay of our employment and economy in Northumberland County, contributing to our food security, buying local economy, and  sources of food for our farmers’ markets, restaurants, and stores. We cannot have our irreplaceable farmland turned into industrial sites, roads, residential development, hotels, and rental housing for construction crews. One cannot just look at the nuclear power plant site. The full project will expand its impact throughout the county. Once our farmland is gone, it is gone forever. If this development is allowed to proceed, the amount of prime agricultural land taken out of production will not only seriously damage the County’s agricultural production capacity, but completely change its character. Our  farmland would become a mega industrial complex and a bedroom community like Pickering, an example of how energy infrastructure can drive suburbanization. Construction and crew housing needs would industrialize and suburbanize our farmland over night.  This housing boom would spike rents and home prices during construction years, then bust leaving excess or mismatched housing thereafter. Construction and its disruption could continue for 10 to 15 years with the influx of thousand of workers during at peak construction, and additional pressure for roads and services.  This would push prices up and encourage non-farm development resulting in a permanent shift in our local economy. While the benefit of electricity supply is distributed across the province, the costs and risks of this project are concentrated and borne locally. We believe our concerns are central to whether this project fits in Northumberland County, at Wesleyville. This is not the right location given what would be irreversibly and permanently destroyed or changed.

Our local water systems are often taxed by multiple months of drought, wells go dry, and crops and animals suffer as a result.  Farmers have to scale down in order to continue to farm and they have mental health challenges from all the changes that are accompanying climate change.  In the north east corner of Northumberland County, Trent Hills made an extra $187.000.00 by selling water to farms and households that ran out of water!  This is NOT AFFORDABLE NOR SUSTAINABLE!

Our county and townships do not have public works budgets to construct new or expand existing roads and bridges to meet the demands of the BNPPITW, nor to handle the traffic that will ensue, nor to maintain safety of the current roads we have, with an enormous increase in traffic. The costs of upgrades, maintenance and enforcement of our roads and bridges should be paid by OPG, ie all the taxpayers of Ontario, not the municipalities of Northumberland County. Nor should our rural and local  communities have to inherit the ongoing costs for infrastructure to accommodate this project. 

Our residents remain in Northumberland County for many reasons and many of our children stay here or return here because they love the life they have known here. People from cities and suburbs move here because they love what our county offers and many retire here for the same reasons. We have value of place;  quiet, beautiful areas along the stunning shores of Lake Ontario, with its beaches, shore birds, migration paths, fishing, and wildlife, a place to kayak, paddle board, canoe, sail, and motor cruise.  Lakeshore Road is one of the best cycling routes from the GTA to Brighton. People have established successful productive farms along and beyond the lake, stunning homes, little hamlets, campsites and playgrounds, restaurants, yacht clubs, and parks. The enormity of the BNPPITW affects all of this directly and indirectly, visually, and with inevitable nuclear stigma, increased noise, dirt, air, water and light pollution, traffic, road closures, traffic diversion and congestion.  The wildlife, trees, grasslands, shoreline, fish, birds, animals, and insects, will lose contiguous habitats, wildlife corridors, and migration routes and their populations will decline. Some are on the threatened and species at risk lists. Place value, farming, recreation, tourism, local businesses, wildlife corridors, and migrating birds and butterflies are important to us, and our visitors. This project will affect our visual landscape, with an industrial skyline and transmissions towers.  These impacts are intolerable and unacceptable to the people and businesses of Northumberland County. This is truly a nightmare we should not have to defend against.

The growth plan for Hamilton Township is for 2000 new residences over the next 30 years. This infill and measured growth, mostly in settlement areas and hamlets, maintains our farmland and the forests, wetlands and aquifers of the Oak Ridges Moraine protected by the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Act. The BNPPITW and all its adjunct industries, roads, hotels, and thousands of new residences to house an influx of workers, may not only take up our farmland but also move housing up into the Moraine lands and destroy them as well, forever. We cannot let this happen and neither should the Impact Assessment Agency which is established for this very reason.This project will trigger not only what the project builds but also what it causes others to build such as worker housing demand, service sector expansion, and speculative development. Induced growth and pressure on our farmland, the Oak Ridges Moraine, our local government and service providers will be in high conflict with the measured targets and growth plans of many Northumberland County communities and the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Act protections. This project is not appropriate for this specific location because it is not compatible with our land use.

 Our hospital will not be able to handle 4000 or even 1700 workers’ and their families' medical needs. Our elementary and secondary schools cannot accommodate hundreds more, neither can our fire and emergency services, nor our police forces who are already stretched with shared OPP resources beyond the 2 municipal police forces. 

Further, the IAAC is obligated by section 22 of the Act to ascertain need for this project including need for such an increase in electricity generation. The IACC must rectify this error of law and address the need for this project in the first instance.