DETROIT, April 19 (UPI) -- Conservation groups in Michigan are concerned about Canadian plans to build an underground nuclear waste dump near the shores of Lake Huron.
The proposal, still under study by Canadian authorities, would create a chamber some 1,640 feet underground for low- and mid-level nuclear waste, The Detroit News reported. It would be located near Kincardine, Ontario, which is about 55 miles east of Michigan across Lake Huron.
The waste would include such things as protective clothing, tools and water filters from nuclear power plants.
John Jackson of the conservation group Great Lakes United told the newspaper the potential for accidents that would affect the United States is too high.
"We think it's a mistake to site anything that close to the Great Lakes that has the potential to leak and eventually reach the water," he said. "This is stuff that lasts forever basically. And to think we could ever hope to contain something forever is just not feasible."
U.S. conservation groups have no power to battle a Canadian project, although if the Obama administration were to raise concerns, the International Joint Commission with its three U.S. members and three Canadians would be called upon to resolve the dispute.
Commission spokesman John Nevin told the newspaper it had not been requested to address the proposed dump site.
