Residents of Michigan’s Thumb region are looking across Lake Huron with some concern these days. The Canadian utility provider, Ontario Power Generation, is seeking approval to build an underground nuclear waste disposal site near the town of Kincardine, Ontario.The company, which operates the nearby Bruce Nuclear Generating Station, wants to bury some 7-million cubic feet of nuclear waste in a 70-acre limestone deposit. The company says the plan is safe. However, the proposal is raising red flags in Michigan, where residents and lawmakers are mounting a campaign to stop the project.
Current State speaks with Marc Smith, senior policy manager with the National Wildlife Federation’s Great Lakes Regional Center in Ann Arbor, and Michigan state senator Phil Pavlov, a Republican who represents the 25th senate district in the Thumb.