CURRY: Head in a Hole or . . . Hole in the Head?

[Oscar]

Printed in December 8 2008 WYNYARD AVANCE:
<w.advance@sasktel.net>

"Head in a Hole or . . . Hole in the Head?"

Letter to Editor:

There are still a few people around who grew up using outhouses. I remember, as a kid in North Battleford, the enthusiasm when the family got its flush toilet. I had no idea where it all went after the flush, though even a child understands a hole in the ground.

We grow up and begin to understand there is no 'away'. Towns and cities have elaborate sewage systems, planned in detail before new subdivisions and houses are built. Most farms have some form of septic tank, with pump-out, and of course animal operations have rigorous waste disposal methods.

Simply put, would you build an outhouse without digging a hole or at least knowing where and how to dump the can?

Yet no one knows where to dump the nuclear can. The latest plan is 'deep geological burial' - with Saskatchewan one intended destination. That would require radioactive waste transport to northern Saskatchewan by train and truck. Yes, through Wynyard.

Except for pretending there's an 'away' somewhere, all attempts and theories to 'solve' the problem have failed so far. Meanwhile, the nuclear industry keeps filling more and more canisters of radioactive wastes which remain dangerous for thousands of years. (I know dogs who are smarter, who won't eat when the owner is away until sure of being let out or taken for a walk.)

So far, we have inherited huge radioactive tailings piles and 'ponds' around uranium mines, tons of deadly fuel rods, and nuclear facilities becoming more contaminated every day. No one knows what to do with it - but the industry and current governments want to keep making more, including plans for nuclear reactors in Saskatchewan!

Instead of being "smarter than the average dog", we are more like ostriches - with our heads in the tarsands - ignoring and denying all the dangers and damage of the nuclear chain, including nuclear weapons. Until we have proven absolutely what to do with the wastes, we should stop producing more.

Bill Curry, Wynyard