Michigan lawmakers to Trudeau: Don't store nuclear waste near lakes

A bipartisan group of U.S. House members from Michigan wrote Friday to Canada's leader, expressing their "strong opposition" to that country's possible plans to locate a nuclear waste repository near the Great Lakes.

“We stand in strong opposition to any decision by the Canadian government to select or consider a permanent national repository for nuclear waste storage anywhere near the Great Lakes,” the lawmakers wrote to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. “This is a treasured natural resource each of our countries share and we urge you to stand with us to protect these waters for future generations.”

The letter was signed by Democratic Reps. Debbie Dingell of Dearborn and Dan Kildee of Flint and Republican Reps. Fred Upton of St. Joseph and Paul Mitchell of Dryden.

Last month, the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved an amendment introduced by Dingell and Upton expressing the sense of Congress that the United States and Canada should not allow long-term storage of spent nuclear fuel or other radioactive waste near the Great Lakes.

In Friday's letter, the four federal lawmakers told Trudeau, "We write to you out of deep concern regarding reports that Canada is moving closer to selecting a permanent national repository for harmful nuclear waste along the shores of the Great Lakes. Allowing a permanent nuclear waste storage facility anywhere near the Great Lakes basin, for any amount of time, is a risk we cannot afford to take"

In May of last year, the U.S. House approved a measure backed by the Michigan delegation that officially opposed the permanent or long-term storage of spent nuclear fuel or other radioactive waste near the Great Lakes, but the resolution, part of a larger nuclear waste policy bill, never received a vote in the Senate.