9 May 2024

The site chosen by Canadian Nuclear Laboratories for its proposed Ottawa River nuclear megadump is next to Perch Lake, a 45-hectare water body. The “NSDF Project” includes a pipeline that would discharge warm water containing radioactive and hazardous contaminants leaching from the dump into the lake, which drains via Perch Creek into the Ottawa River, only 1 kilometer away.  Construction of the pipeline and discharge of contaminated water for a 50-year operating period would have highly significant adverse impacts on species living in and around the lake, such as the endangered Blanding’s Turtles, other hibernating turtle species, and the three endangered bat species that feed on insects hatching from the lake and that roost in the trees on the adjacent forested hillside.

The dump’s proximity to the Ottawa River, Perch Lake, and its surrounding wetlands is a main reason why clear-cutting, draining, and blasting the forested hillside would have major impacts on biodiversity and species at risk.  Environment and Climate Change Canada nonetheless issued a permit allowing these activities, while referring to only three at-risk species (Blanding’s Turtle, Little Brown Myotis, Northern Myotis).

After the May/June 2022 Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission hearing onthe NSDF Project (which was supposed to be the final opportunity for public input), Kebaowek First Nation insisted on being allowed to conduct its own field work at the site chosen by CNL. Even though much of their work had to be done in the fall and winter, what they found was stunning (see
https://kebaowek.ca/Docs/NSDF/IndigenousNSDFAssessmentBooklet.pdf).

Using motion-sensitive cameras, they recorded the presence of three active Black Bear dens, with video footage of bears entering them to hibernate.  Ontario provincial regulations prohibit the destruction of bear dens. A 2018 study of Black Bear den-site selection in and around Aspen, Colorado found that slope was the main predictor of where bears make their dens.  The likelihood of a site being used increased by 6.15% for each 1° increase in slope.  Advantages of denning on steeper slopes relate to safety from disturbance and avoidance of heat loss, with dens on steep slopes having drier and better drained soils that lessen heat loss compared with wetter dens.  Many studies report that bears den primarily in forested habitat types.  A 2005 study of den selection by Grizzly Bears in British Columbia showed that their dens were primarily in older-aged forest stands.

The NSDF site, with its steep slope; its sandy, well-drained soil that lessens heat loss and is easy for bears to excavate; its healthy, mature forest cover; lack of human disturbance; and distance from road traffic – represents irreplaceable Black Bear denning habitat. Destruction of this habitat would likely have significant negative impacts on the regional Black Bear population in the upper Ottawa
Valley.

Kebaowek First Nation documented how rich in biodiversity the NSDFsite is overall.  A pack of Eastern (or “Algonquin”) Wolves – a distinct species found only in Canada that is threatened with extinction — was denning nearby and preying on the deer and moose that winter at the NSDF site.  As well as the three endangered bat species preferentially use the NSDF site, with its abundance of old trees that are suitable for maternity roosts and are close to ideal foraging habitat, and the endangered Blanding’s Turtles, which make long overland migrations before laying their eggs in spring, many species of at-risk migratory birds (Whip-poor-wills, Golden-winged Warblers, Canada Warblers, etc.) also use the NSDF site.

We should all be grateful to the Kebaowek First Nation for insisting on doing independent field work.  In its 2016 NSDF Site Selection report, CNL did not record the presence of Black Bears, nor their
dens.  Nor was there any mention of the use of the site by Eastern Wolves.  CNL’s final environmental impact statement makes no mention of bear dens, and scant mention of the presence of wolves.

The “uplisting” of the Eastern Wolf from “special concern” to “threatened” status, recommended by COSEWIC in 2015 because of genetic evidence that it is a distinct species, is likely to occur thissummer. It appears that the wolves previously had a den on the 37-hasite, have an active den nearby on the Chalk River property, feed on deer and moose that winter under an old spruce plantation on the site, and use the Perch Creek corridor as the shortest route between their two major populations in Algonquin Park in Ontario and Mont Tremblant park in Quebec.  A “threatened” listing may require issuance of another permit under the Species at Risk Act that would address the protection of wolf dens, wintering and feeding areas.

Some of the federally listed at-risk species known to live in the 37-ha NSDF “footprint” and the surrounding “Local Study Area” (including Perch Lake) are:

Canada Warbler
Golden-winged Warbler
Eastern Whip-poor-will
Eastern Wood Pewee
Wood Thrush
Chimney Swift
Little Brown Myotis
Northern Myotis
Tri-colored Bat
Blanding’s Turtle
Eastern Musk Turtle
Northern Map Turtle
Snapping Turtle
Eastern Milksnake
Monarch
Eastern (“Algonquin”) Wolf
Black Ash

The iconic Canada Warbler, one of many endangered species that depend on the forested hillside on CRL property that is slated for clear cutting, blasting, and removal to build the NSDF.

Kebaowek First Nation, Concerned Citizens of Renfrew County and Area, the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility and the Sierra Club Canada Foundation have applied for a judicial review of the decision by the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada to grant a permit to destroy species at risk in order to build the NSDF. The Notice of Application is available here.