PORT HOPE -It will be at least five years before any buildings are removed from the Centre Pier at Port Hope harbour.

Cameco took the initiative to meet Wednesday with members of the Pier Group and the Commissioners of Port Hope harbour regarding the fate of the Centre Pier buildings, says Chris Wallace of the Pier Group.

Wallace has always been open to meeting with these groups and finally had the opportunity for some face-to-face time with Cameco regarding the Environmental Assessment (EA).
“We were quite pleased to be invited,” Wallace said during an interview prior to the Wednesday, March 3 meeting. “We want to put our cards on the table.”

Wallace said they wanted to let Cameco know they were taking a very reasonable position on the matter and quite simply were looking for an answer as to what the environmental impact would be if the buildings remained or were torn down.

“Council is arguing that the buildings are polluted, so we want to know if there would be a negative impact if demolished and whether they actually are polluted,” Wallace said.

“People need to know,” he said. “And we’re not afraid of the answer.”

Doug Prendergast, senior communication specialist for Cameco Port Hope, said the group met at the library Wednesday night.

“It provided an opportunity for Cameco to provide some background on how we reached our current point,” Prendergast said. “We laid out our path forward including the opportunity for the Pier Group to participate in the EA process.”

The key point is that the buildings on the Centre Pier would not be removed until 2015 at the earliest, Prendergast said.

The reason for this lengthy wait is that first the EA process must be gone through. This would lead to the licensing process by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), another lengthy process, he said.

From a more practical side, the Port Hope Area Initiative PHAI) isn’t ready to take the low-level radioactive waste stored in those buildings, so the buildings would be needed to continue to store the waste, he said.

“The overriding message is that Cameco has taken no position on keeping or removing the buildings,” Prendergast said. “It really is a landlord/tenant issue.”

The landlord, the Commissioners of Port Hope Harbor, has directed Cameco to remove the buildings prior to vacating the Centre Pier, Prendergast said.

“Finding out we have at least five years is extremely good news,” Wallace said. “We won’t have time to waste, but we’ll have some breathing room.”

Wallace said members of the harbour commission did not show any signs of shifting their position to have the buildings demolished.

“We understand that Cameco has a mandate to follow the direction of their landlord,” Wallace said. “We pointed out that the harbour commission is our opponent in this fight.”

After the meeting, the Pier Group held a rally that attracted between 60 and 80 people, he said.

“The ranks of people actively involved in fighting to save the pier buildings has increased,” Wallace said. “All of the five task forces had new people sign up.”

Wallace was pleased to note that Port Hope councillors Bob Fudge, Cal Morgan and Ted Watts attended the rally.

“We realize they were there as individuals, not as councillors, but we were gratified they were there to listen,” Wallace said.

He said he was pleased to note that over the next five years in the life of the buildings, Cameco will continue to pay for all associated costs for the pier buildings.

“There will be no cost to the taxpayers of Port Hope,” Wallace said.