IV 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 197 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the President 

and the Secretary of State should ensure that the Canadian Government 

does not permanently store nuclear waste in the Great Lakes Basin. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 13, 2017 

Mr. KILDEE (for himself, Mr. BISHOP of Michigan, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. JOYCE

of Ohio, Ms. KAPTUR, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. POCAN, Mr. TROTT, Mrs. 

WALORSKI, Mr. GUTIE ́RREZ, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. MITCHELL, Mr. HIGGINS

of New York, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. MOOLENAAR, and Mr. CONYERS) 

submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 

on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 

the President and the Secretary of State should ensure 

that the Canadian Government does not permanently 

store nuclear waste in the Great Lakes Basin. 

Whereas the water resources of the Great Lakes Basin are 

precious public natural resources, shared by the Great 

Lakes States and the Canadian Provinces; 

Whereas the United States and Canada have, since 1909, 

worked to maintain and improve the water quality of the 

Great Lakes through water quality agreements; 


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2 

•HRES 197 IH 

Whereas over 40,000,000 people in both Canada and the 

United States depend on the fresh water from the Great 

Lakes for drinking water; 

Whereas Ontario Power Generation is proposing to build a 

permanent geological repository for nuclear waste less 

than one mile from Lake Huron in Kincardine, Ontario, 

Canada; 

Whereas nuclear waste is highly toxic and can take tens of 

thousands of years to decompose to safe levels; 

Whereas a spill of nuclear waste into the Great Lakes could 

have lasting and severely adverse environmental, health, 

and economic impacts on the Great Lakes and the people 

that depend on them for their livelihood; 

Whereas over 187 local, county, State, and tribal governments have passed resolutions in opposition to Ontario 

Power Generation’s proposed nuclear waste repository; 

Whereas Tribes and First Nations’ citizens have a strong 

spiritual and cultural connection to the Great Lakes and 

its protection is fundamental to treaty rights; 

Whereas Ontario Power Generation has promised not to move 

forward with their current proposal without the support 

of the First Nations that would be impacted; and 

Whereas during the 1980s when the Department of Energy, 

in accordance with the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 

1982, was studying potential sites for a permanent nuclear waste repository in the United States, the Canadian 

Government expressed concern with locating a permanent 

nuclear waste repository within shared water basins of 

the two countries: Now, therefore, be it 


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3 

•HRES 197 IH 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep2 resentatives that— 

3 (1) the Canadian Government should not allow 

4 a permanent nuclear waste repository to be built 

5 within the Great Lakes Basin; 

6 (2) the President and the Secretary of State 

7 should take appropriate action to work with the Ca8 nadian Government to prevent a permanent nuclear 

9 waste repository from being built within the Great 

10 Lakes Basin; and 

11 (3) the President and the Secretary of State 

12 should work together with their Canadian Govern13 ment counterparts on a safe and responsible solution 

14 for the long-term storage of nuclear waste. 

Æ 


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