Local environmental activists are concerned over a proposal that would create a nuclear waste dump less than a mile from the shores of Lake Huron. Community members met at a town hall meeting this week at Wayne State University to discuss the proposal.
Hugh McDiarmid with the Michigan Environmental Council says the project could threaten the entire Great Lakes watershed.
"Our concern is with the proximity to the Great Lakes. I mean, you've got the world's greatest freshwater resource a mile away from this material," he said. "If anything should go wrong it jeopardizes the water that is the lifeblood of Michigan and the Great Lakes region. The ramifications of that are tremendous."
Ontario Power Generation insists its proposal is safe, and that only low- and intermediate-level waste will be buried at the site. OPG could not be reached for a comment.
Opponents are concerned about the proximity of nuclear waste to the Great Lakes.
State Senator Hoon-Yung Hopgood (D-Taylor) spoke at the meeting on Monday night. He says the proposal could threaten the Great Lakes region.
"It would threaten the entire basin," he said. "This is a water system that supports 40 million people, the lives of 40 million people, and untold amounts of economic activity and welfare."
Hopgood says the Great Lakes are a unique resource that should be protected. "The risk is just too great," he said.
-Sarah Kerson, Michigan Radio Newsroom
