Page created January 31, 2025
If you would like to learn more about this issue, the Township of Nairn and Hyman and the Township of Baldwin will be hosting a second Public Information Session on February 18, 2025 at 7:00 p.m. at the Nairn Community Centre.
In June of 2024 one of Nairn & Hyman’s Councillors when travelling down a logging road north of Agnew Lake in Hyman Township, noticed new development and upgraded roads in the vicinity of the Agnew Lake Tailings Management Area Site. At Council’s request, staff were directed to make inquires with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ministry of Mines to inquire if there were any new projects starting up in the area. On June 17, 2024, our Township received an email from the Ministry of Mines providing a very brief outline of a project to transport over 18,000 cubic metres of materials classified as Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM) from the former Beaucage Mine and Waste Site, Nipissing First Nation lands, and an adjacent Ministry of Transportation (MTO) pit to the decommissioned Agnew Lake Tailings Management Area (ALTMA). Despite the scale and potential impact of this project, this decision was made without any prior consultation with our municipality, neighboring communities, and several local First Nations.
The proposed transportation and deposition of these materials in an area adjacent to Agnew Lake poses significant environmental, health, and safety concerns. Agnew Lake is not only a critical source of drinking water for our communities but also a vital natural resource that supports the ecological and cultural fabric of the region. The decision to utilize ALTMA for this purpose risks exacerbating existing environmental challenges, including groundwater contamination and radiation exposure, as surveys of the site have already indicated areas where radiation doses exceed the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission’s (CNSC) regulatory limits for casual site users. Furthermore, seepage from the tailings into the groundwater has been documented, raising further alarms about the potential for long-term ecological harm.
Over the past several months, our municipality, in partnership with the Township of Baldwin and other neighboring LaCloche municipalities, has taken proactive steps to address this issue, including holding two joint emergency meetings and hosting a public information session, attended by representatives from MINES, MTO, CNSC and many political leaders. These gatherings were also attended by representatives from surrounding First Nations and other affected communities, all of whom expressed deep concerns over the lack of transparency and consultation regarding this project. The feedback from these meetings highlighted a shared sentiment: the materials in question are not accurately categorized as NORM. Instead, they are mine tailings that potential contain hazardous heavy metals, including uranium and niobium, which could carry significant environmental and health risks. Following the public information session, the municipalities submitted a series of questions to the Ministry of Mines, Ministry of Transportation and the CNSC regarding site maintenance, monitoring data, and the environmental and health impacts of relocating the niobium tailings to this site. Unfortunately, we have not received any answers to date from the Ministry of Mines and the Ministry of Transportation.
Please click on the links below to view reports, letters, media releases and information regarding the Agnew Lake Tailings Management Site and the proposed project to transport NORM to this site:
CMD25-M4_ROR for U-Mines Mills Historic and Decommissioned Sites 2023
2024-12-09_240184_Township of Nairn and Hyman – CNSC Regulatory Oversight Report compressed
2025-01-10_240184_Nairn Centre – Agnew Lake Information Requests
2024-12-18_240184_Nairn Conceptual Flowpath Screening Compressed
Media Release October 15, 2024
CNSC Staff’s Response to Questions Regarding the Agnew Lake Tailings Management Area
E-DOCS-#6343717-v3-Agnew_Lake_Tailings_Management_Area_Waste_Nuclear_Substance_Licence_2025
Northwatch_Uranium-mines_Regulatory-Oversight-Report_Ref. 2018_FINAL_REV
2024-10-31_PDF_Agnew Lake Presentation_FINAL
Letter to Minister of Mines re Agnew Lake Tailings Management Area 1