Timeline:

September 23, 2011: Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, Greenpeace, the Canadian Environmental Law Association, and Northwatch filed a Notice of Application with the Federal Court of Canada today. The groups are seeking judicial review related to the release of the Joint Review Panel’s environmental assessment report.

You can read more about this application for judicial review on Waterkeeper’s Darlington FAQ page.

August 25, 2011: Today, the Joint Review Panel released its report on OPG’s application to build and operate a new nuclear power plant at Darlington. The 143 page report includes 67 specific planning and scientific recommendations for OPG and other government agencies.

The 67 recommendations contained in the panel’s report range from conducting more studies to reviewing Canada’s nuclear liability program. They reveal major holes in OPG’s plan and require that much more environmental study is needed in order to identify impacts on air, water, fish, soil, and species at risk.

The report will now go to the federal Governor in Council for a decision on the environmental assessment. If the Governor in Council approves the EA, the Responsible Authorities (Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, and Transport Canada) will be able to proceed with approvals for the project.

The Panel’s report is online here.

June 3, 2011: Record is officially closed. The Joint Review Panel no longer accepts new information regarding the project. The Panel has 90 days from this date to issue a report, including a recommendation, to the Minister of the Environment and the Responsible Authorities.

May 17, 2011: Waterkeeper submits final written comments to the Joint Review Panel.

April 8, 2011: Hearing concludes.

March 28, 2011: Lake Ontario Waterkeeper and experts present to the Panel. Our slide presentation is online here. You can watch a video of our presentation here.

March 21, 2011 (7:00 pm): The hearing begins.

March 21, 2011 (6:45 pm): After hearing submissions from Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, Canadian Environmental Law Association, Northwatch, and Ontario Power Generation, the Joint Review Panel rules that there is “no need” to postpone the hearing.

March 14, 2011: Lake Ontario Waterkeeper notifies the Joint Review Panel it has insufficient information on which to base an environmental assessment decision. LOW will raise this issue on March 21, 2011.

February 21, 2011: Lake Ontario Waterkeeper submits official written submission to the Panel.

January 13, 2011: Lake Ontario Waterkeeper registers to participate in the hearing.

December 21, 2010: Lake Ontario Waterkeeper posted information for those interested in participating in the upcoming hearing regarding the new nuclear proposal for Darlington, including the deadline for registration and a link to details about the hearing process.

December 15, 2010: Public hearing scheduled: The Joint Review Panel for the Darlington New Nuclear Power Plant project announced that it has scheduled the public hearing for the project. The public hearing sessions are set to begin on March 21, 2011 at a venue in or near the project area.

October 8, 2010: Lake Ontario Waterkeeper and Gord Downie submit comment on the Darlington New Build

June 14, 2010: Lake Ontario Waterkeeper submits suggested Interrogatories for Ontario Power Generation

July 20, 2009: Lake Ontario Waterkeeper applies for funding to retain the same roster of experts for Phase II of the environmental assessment for the proposed Darlington New Nuclear Power Plant project.

June 29, 2009: Ontario suspends reactor bids.

March 12, 2009: CNSC releases final EIS Guidelines and JRP Agreement. The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission released its final EIS Guidelines and Joint Review Panel Agreement. The EIS Guidelines identify the information needed for OPG to prepare the EIS, which will provide a detailed analysis of the potential environmental effects of the proposed project, and list the requirements of the Application for a Licence to Prepare a Site. The JRP Agreement establishes how the panel will function and also describes the terms of reference for conducting the environmental assessment and for considering the Application for a Licence to Prepare a Site.

November 19, 2008: Lake Ontario Waterkeeper submits comments on the draft EIS Guidelines and draft Joint Review Panel Agreement.

September 5, 2008: CNSC releases draft EIS Guidelines and JRP Agreement released.

June 1, 2007: The Environmental Assessment officially begins.

Please note that we have not included all dates pertaining to the pre-hearing EA process. You can find more information here.