Owen Sound will not be able to stop an application by Bruce Power for a permit to take steam generators through the city on their way to the harbour.
That’s assuming Bruce Power applies for a permit that it may not even need in order to proceed with its planned shipment.
City council learned on Monday night that this is the opinion of Don Greenfield, the city’s lawyer — after discussions between himself, a senior Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission official, and lawyers for the CNSC and Bruce Power.
Acting city manager Glen Henry told council that because the federal government has jurisdiction over anything related to atomic energy, the city’s bylaw regarding heavy loads on Owen Sound’s streets would not apply to the plan.
Bruce Power has proposed to ship 16 decommissioned steam generators — each of them weighing 100 tonnes — to Sweden by way of local roads, the city’s harbour and the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway.
But the city may still be able to have conditions imposed on the shipment.
Owen Sound has filed a submission with the CNSC in advance of its hearing.
The submission asks that Bruce Power be expected to adhere to the conditions that Mayor Ruth Lovell Stanners says Owen Sound would normally impose on a heavy-load shipment through the city.
Such conditions include details of the route to be taken through the city, along with dates and times and expectations of policing arrangements during transportation and storage.
The city would also require liability insurance in the amount of 25 million dollars and a security bond of 200 thousand dollars.
The City also wants a copy of Bruce Power’s complete emergency or contingency plans, clearance letters from the city’s police, fire and emergency services and operations department, clearances from Hydro One, Rogers Cable and Bell Canada, and a written promise from Bruce Power that it will comply with all of the requirements of those clearances.
A 50 dollar processing fee is also requested by the city.
Lovell Stanners will attend the CNSC hearing on September 28th and 29th as an observer.
The Mayor will not have standing at the hearing and will not make a formal presentation on behalf of the city, but she will be able to answer questions the commission may have regarding the city’s submission.
