Submissions of Lake Ontario Waterkeeper to the Canadian Nuclear
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Submissions of Lake Ontario Waterkeeper to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission Re: Relicensing hearing for the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station and Notice of Public Hearing, Ref. 2015-H-04 September 28, 2015 Submitted to Adam Levine via email: [email protected] Cc: [email protected] and [email protected] EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Ontario Power Generation (“OPG”) is seeking a 13-year licence that will allow it to operate and refurbish the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station in Clarington, Ontario (DNGS). The DNGS was built in the 1980s and is among the largest power plants in North America and within the top 25 globally. If the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (“the Commission”) approves OPG’s request for this 13-year licence, then the plant’s life will be extended until 2055. OPG formally notified the CNSC of its intention to refurbish the DNGS in 2011, and a screening level environmental assessment process began. The “screening” assessment was the lowest level of environmental assessment available under Canadian law at the time, offering the least scrutiny, public participation, and expert review. After the publication of the Draft Environmental Assessment Screening Report – Refurbishment and Continued Operation of the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station, Lake Ontario Waterkeeper (“Waterkeeper”) participated in the review process. Waterkeeper raised a number of concerns, most focusing on the impacts of Darlington’s cooling water system on the aquatic ecosystem. Based on its review of the draft, Waterkeeper submitted that a more rigorous environmental assessment process was warranted: a “review panel” under Canadian environmental assessment law. This recommendation was ignored, and only minor adjustments were made to the draft Environmental Assessment Screening Report before its release. Waterkeeper continues to have concerns about the DNGS’s current and future impact on Lake Ontario. Waterkeeper has carefully examined documents related to this licensing hearing, including the Environmental Assessment Screening Report, its supporting technical documents, and the documents relating to OPG’s Fisheries and Oceans Canada (“DFO”) authorization. After reviewing this information, it is apparent the current plan does not make adequate protection for the environment. The Commission cannot issue a 13-year licence unless deficiencies in the plan are addressed. Waterkeeper recommends that Commission licence the DNGS for not longer than one year. A one-year licence would give OPG sufficient time to: 1) determine how it 2 will comply with its DFO authorization; 2) develop and implement programs to monitor impingement, entrainment and stormwater runoff; and 3) develop a plan for ensuring that water quality onsite and near-site consistently meets all water quality standards. Specifically, Waterkeeper is concerned by the following three (3) problems and offers the related six (6) necessary corrective measures: PROBLEM (a): The DNGS has failed to make adequate provisions to protect aquatic biota. This is apparent from: ● The large numbers of fish, fish eggs, fish larvae, invertebrates and plankton that the DNGS continues to impinge and entrain; ● The absence of a proper impingement and entrainment monitoring program that is required to predict future trends and understand the project's impact on endangered species; ● OPG’s failure to recognize and account for the fact that Lake Ontario’s ecosystems are in a state of flux; ● The DNGS’s history of non-compliance with the Fisheries Act; and, ● The inability of the DNGS to comply with its current DFO authorization. → CORRECTIVE MEASURE (a)(i): The Commission should require OPG to develop and implement a robust impingement and entrainment monitoring program for the DNGS. → CORRECTIVE MEASURE (a)(ii): The Commission should require OPG to immediately review available impingement and entrainment mitigation options and determine how it will comply with its current DFO authorization. PROBLEM (b): The DNGS has failed to make adequate provisions to minimize surface water pollution. 3 This is apparent from: ● The DNGS’s history of stormwater pollution. Existing stormwater data indicates that stormwater running off the DNGS site routinely exceeds Provincial Water Quality Objectives (PWQOs), and stormwater samples failed acute lethality testing in 1996 and 2001; ● The absence of a regular stormwater monitoring program; ● Contaminant concentrations in onsite and near site water bodies that regularly exceed PWQOs. → CORRECTIVE MEASURE (b)(i): The Commission should require OPG to develop and implement a regular stormwater monitoring regime. → CORRECTIVE MEASURE (b)(ii): The Commission should require OPG to take corrective actions to ensure that onsite and near site water bodies meet PWQOs. PROBLEM (c): Flaws in the Environmental Assessment Screening Report have deprived the Commission of the information necessary to assess whether the DNGS has taken adequate measures to protect the environment. → CORRECTIVE MEASURE (c)(i): The Commission should not allow refurbishment of the DNGS to begin until the flaws in the Environmental Assessment Screening Report are addressed. → CORRECTIVE MEASURE (c)(ii): If the CNSC does issues OPG a general operating licence, it should be for no more than one year, and it should incorporate the recommendations outlined above. These problems and corrective measures were identified with the assistance of two experienced advisors who assisted Waterkeeper in considering the plant’s impact on local aquatic biota and surface water quality: ● Dr. Richard Seaby of Pisces Conservation is a fisheries biologist with a doctorate in freshwater ecology from the University of Liverpool. He is a 4 specialist in aquatic ecology and much of his recent work has involved examining the effects of industrial plants on aquatic ecosystems. ● Kevin Draganchuk of Carpenter Environmental Associates is an Environmental Engineer whose areas of expertise include designing stormwater treatment and management systems, stormwater permitting, designing site remediations and analyzing the operation and design of sanitary sewer systems. He is a registered Professional Engineer in New York State. This submission also draws upon relevant findings in expert reports that Waterkeeper commissioned for previous hearings before the CNSC concerning the proposed refurbishment of the DNGS and the proposal to build new reactors at the DNGS. These additional reports were authored by: ● Dr. Peter Henderson of Pisces Conservation, an experienced fisheries biologist and a leading expert on cooling water intake structures. ● Bill Powers, a pollution control engineer with considerable experience in the design and evaluation of cooling towers for the power industry. He has provided engineering testimony in numerous regulatory proceedings, drafted portions of policy notes related to cooling towers for the Edison Power Research Institute, a leading energy-industry body, and advised on the feasibility of cooling tower retrofits at a large number of existing industrial facilities; 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY……………………………………………………………….. 2 BACKGROUND………………………………………………………………………….. 10 Lake Ontario Waterkeeper is a charity participating in this process in the public interest…………………………………………………………………... 10 Lake Ontario is an irreplaceable source of life, beauty and recreation…... 11 Lake Ontario has a changing, severely stressed ecosystem………………. 11 Durham Region is changing………………………………………………………. 13 The DNGS’s continues to kill fish and degrade water quality……………... 15 DISCUSSIONS…………………………………………………………………………... 16 Does the DNGS make adequate provisions for the protection of the Environment?.................................................................................................... 16 a. The DNGS, as it currently operates, does not make adequate provisions for the protection of the environment……………….... ……... 16 a.1. The DNGS has not made adequate provisions to protect aquatic biota…………………………..………………………………........... 17 a.1.1. The DNGS kills large numbers of fish, invertebrates and plankton………………………………………………………………….... 17 a.1.1.1. Impingement………………………………………………… 17 a.1.1.2. Entrainment…………………………………………………. 19 6 a.1.2. Old impingement and entrainment data may not be predictive of future trends………………………………………………. 20 a.1.3. The DNGS has a history of non-compliance with the Fisheries Act……………………………………………………………… 22 a.1.4. The Commission is obliged to consider the impact that relicensing the DNGS will have on fish populations and whether the plant will comply with the Fisheries Act………………… 24 a.1.5. The DNGS will exceed the terms of its DFO authorization…... 26 a.1.5.1.The plant will kill more than 2,200 kilograms of Age+1 per year………………………………..……………………… 26 a.1.5.2. The plant may kill species of conservation concern……. 29 a.2. The timelines for future impingement and entrainment studies are not acceptable………………………………………………………….... 30 a.2.1. The current monitoring plan will make it impossible to know whether the DNGS complies with the Fisheries Act or SARA………. 31 a.2.2. The current monitoring plan will deprive the Commission of a complete record in future relicensing hearings…………………. 31 a.2.3. The current monitoring plan will deprive the public of information it is entitled to be provided with…………………………. 32 b. The DNGS has not made adequate provisions to minimize surface water pollution………………………………………………………… 33 b.1 Stormwater from the DNGS runs directly into Lake Ontario……….. 33 7 b.2 Stormwater from the DNGS