Although the land near Schreiber was found to be incompatible with the needs of nuclear waste burial, Schreiber, Terrace Bay and Pays Plat First Nation will each receive $250,000 for participating in the process.
In March, the Nuclear Waste Management Organization disqualified Schreiber as a potential burial site due to geological studies that showed deep fractures in the rock. Schreiber had received $800,000 since 2011 for its role in the "learn more process" that will end with one site being chosen as a final resting place for Canada's nuclear waste.
The NWMO's support added up to nearly 10 per cent of Shcreiber's annual budget and the town's council expressed concern that the income stream would be drying up. This week, it became clear that a new $250,000 allotment would be a parting gift.
Schreiber CAO Don McArthur said
"We'd like to do some work around our water and sewer, particularly around storage and water metering and a water master plan," he said. "That project came in at $2.5-million. The $250,000 from the NWMO is very welcome but it's probably just a start."
Fifteen kilometres down the highway, Terrace Bay CAO Jon Hall was looking into his town's equal share of NWMO funding. Although Terrace Bay was never under consideration for nuclear waste burial and a sizeable local movement formed to oppose the Schreiber proposal, the NWMO has also offered Terrace Bay $250,000.
"Administration would probably recommend toward infrastructure renewal for infrastructure projects or a portion of it be used for us to leverage dollars from the provincial or federal governments in whatever infrastructure programs they roll out," Hall said.
Nine Ontario communities continue to be engaged in the process, including Ignace, Blind River, Elliot Lake, Manitouwadge, and Hornepayne in Northern Ontario.
