The residents of Port Granby are keeping quiet.

The Port Hope Area Initiative — a project of remediation for historic nuclear waste in Port Hope and Clarington — sent out a public attitude survey to more than 750 Port Granby households in the first week of May.

With the Friday, May 27 deadline for responses looming, the PHAI communications department is starting to get concerned about the low number of people participating in the survey.

“We’d like to get five or six times as many as we’ve got right now,” said PHAI communications manager Mark Giles, who would not say exactly how low resident response has been to the public attitude survey. “If you send out 750 or 800 mail-outs to residents, we don’t expect to get that many returned. We received a small number, we’d like to receive more.”

Approximately 500,000 cubic metres of historic low-level radioactive waste and marginally contaminated soils have to be moved from the current site on the shore of Lake Ontario to a proposed above-ground facility on stable land 700 metres away from the receding shoreline.

The survey is designed to find out how knowledgeable residents are on the project, how confident they are that the waste can be safely managed long-term and how they would prefer to receive information from the PHAI.

“We can use that feedback as we move forward and communicate in the best way possible,” said Mr. Giles.

The survey was sent to hundreds of homes in southeast Clarington — from Lakeshore Road to Concession Road 4 in the north and from Riley Road (south of Concession Road 1, Morgan’s Road in the north) and Wesleyville Road in the east.

“We really value the opinions and the views of those that live in the area. We want to know how they feel about the project,” said Mr. Giles.

He was unsure whether the lack of interest in responding to the survey could be attributed to resident’s busy lives or a general sense of trust in the project.

“If that’s the case, and the residents in Port Granby area have confidence in the project — that’s good news. We’d like to hear that,” said Mr. Giles. “On the other hand, if they have concerns, they have suggestions, they have feedback on how we can do things better, we’d like to hear that as well.”

This is the fifth public attitude survey done in Clarington. In the fall of 2007, questionnaires were delivered to 674 houses and the following spring a telephone survey was done. In total 124 people participated in the 2008 public attitudes survey.

The 2008 survey found only 40 per cent of respondents were at least “somewhat” confident that the waste can be safely managed at the recommended facility for the long term, and 45 per cent were “not at all confident.” The majority said they would feel more confident with better information and community engagement. Most residents were aware of the Port Granby project and preferred to be kept informed through brochures and newsletters mailed to their homes.

“We received more returns (in 2008) than we have currently and the responses were very helpful in helping us form our communications,” said Mr. Giles.

Residents can respond online, by mail or by phone. The survey is being conducted by an independent consultant. All responses are anonymous, addresses are coded into zones so the PHAI can see if there is a noticeable difference in attitude for residents who live closer to the project.

“It is really important that we encourage public participation and two-way engagement,” said Mr. Giles

Those living in the study area who lost their survey, or did not receive one, should call the survey consultants at 1-866-845-6448 and ask to participate in the Public Attitude Survey on the Port Granby project. The results of the survey will be released to the public in mid-June.

via durhamregion.com | Wanted: Clarington’s opinions on the Port Granby project.