If not grain bins, then what?

SOUTH DUNDAS — The building permit for the grain bins at the Universal Terminals(UTI) facility in South Dundas is under appeal, a lengthy process initiated to stall or block the development. The possible success of said appeal leads this writer to wonder, what else could could be done with the UTI property?

Opponents of the grain bins have stated that a suggested use for the port, the only port on the Canadian side of the St. Lawrence Seaway between Prescott and Montreal, could be to develop the land into a marina and residential community. More residential homes are great, but one does need a job in order to locate in the community.

Problem is, no matter what industry wants to locate at the port, some critics will find a reason for it to not locate there. What if there was an industry that had the support of some of the grain bin critics? One that provides high-paying jobs, government investment into the port, and for the municipality, high tax revenue. That industry is, Nuclear Waste.

Yes, nuclear waste. Spent fuel rods from the many nuclear power plants in Canada, which the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) has looking across Canada for a site for permanent storage, including several Northern Ontario towns. Why not store it in South Dundas? Why not store it at the port?

The port is on the St. Lawrence Seaway, making for easy shipment of waste from Bruce Nuclear Power Plant, or Darlington, or Pickering. With rail only one kilometer north of the port, the other sites would have an easy method of shipping to the storage facility too.

It is a well document fact in the press, that at least one member of the anti-grain bin group supports storing nuclear waste in their community, as a “great economic development tool”. Nuclear waste could be a catalyst for bringing good paying jobs to South Dundas.

Storing soybeans, wheat, corn,  and other crops are so dangerous. All that dust and noise, and the potential for explosion. Nuclear Waste is a much safer industry for South Dundas. Just the potential of a “little” radiation, nothing to worry about, at all.

Originally published on CornwallNewswatch and OurHometown.ca.