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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOctober 17 MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PICKERING/ONTARIO HYDRO LIAISON COMMITTEE HELD ON THURSDAY, October 17, 1996 AT 7:30 PM AT THE INFORMATION CENTRE PICKERING NUCLEAR GENERATING STATION Present: Mayor Wayne Arthurs Councillor Sherry Senis Councillor Maurice Brenner Thomas J. Quinn, Executive Director- Town of Pickering Judy Hodgson, Executive Assistant - Town of Pickering Ken Talbot, Station Director, PNGS Ross Fitchett, Public Affairs, PNGS Jay Amer, Ontario Hydro, Public Affairs Denise Wiese, Past President, Ajax Pickering Board of Trade Evans Enyolu, Representative of PACT Mark Rohlehr, Durham Nuclear Health Committee 1. Adoption of Minutes of the Meeting of August 22. 1996 Minutes of the meeting of August 22, 1996 were adopted as circulated. 2. Presentations from the Public Dave Martin, Durham Nuclear Awareness made the following statements to the committee. The Draft Provincial Master Plan was released in July and will forward their comments to the Committee and the Province. He urged the committee to respond directly to the Province and questioned what time frames were expected. Seismic Presentation Dave Martin reminded representatives of Ontario Hydro that the interim report was due to be issued to members in October. The Atomic Energy and Control Board will holding a re-licensing hearing for PNGS on November 28, 1996 in Oshawa and urged members of the Committee to attend. 3. Presentation - Pickering Exercise 95 Tom James, Regional Emergency Measures Co-ordinator was introduced to the Committee, it was advised that he would provide an update of the evaluation of the Pickering Exercise 95. Pickering Exercise 95 provided an opportunity to test measures in place. It was further noted that many new policies and procedures were established and valuable knowledge was gained as a result, allowing all involved to establish a good working relationship, develop a level of trust and understanding. A permanent office has been established at the Region. Tom James has been appointed as the Director in the interim. The Region is in the process of acquiring full time staff for the administration, in order to enhance emergency response for both nuclear and non nuclear emergencies.. The Joint Information Centre will provide an opportunity for the centralization and efficient co-ordination of communication for emergency response. The emergency response centre will be equipped with state of the art equipment and will be a model for others to follow. Notification will be issued in a priority fashion to ensure information is communicated in a very timely and accurate manner. The Emergency Measures office are presently preparing for an International Emergency Exercise in Darlington in 1998. Mayor Arthurs expressed appreciation for the hard work and leadership Tom James provided during Pickering Exercise 95. Councillor Senis noted that major recommendations were made and questioned if they had been implemented as a result. One of the main concerns was the issue of increased commuter traffic in the event of an evacuation, specifically; residents who work outside of Pickering trying to get back into the community to pick-up their children from evacuation centres. Tom James advised that children will be moved outside of the primary zone to evacuation centres thereby alleviating congestion in that area. An information brochure will be issued to residents explaining evacuation procedures including contact names and procedures. Some of the onus of responsibility will lie with residents to obtain additional information specific to their personal requirements, i.e. contact their school to determine which evacuation centre their child will be sent to. The brochure will encourage residents to ensure they obtain this information. The procedure brochure will also be issued in conjunction with other media releases and public education methods. D. Wiese stated that the public should feel comfort in knowing that there are procedures currently in place and there are measures being taken to improve policies, procedures and public awareness. Staff should be commended for their efforts in issuing this brochure. Page 2 Ross Fitchett stated that Ontario Hydro is currently working on a public education process including a networking list. It was agreed that the committee would receive copies of this information for further discussion at the next meeting. Thomas Quinn stated that in order to ensure conformity, procedures in place should be consistent throughout the province. 4. Draft copy of the Province of Ontario Nuclear Emergency Plan The draft copy of the Province of Ontario Nuclear Emergency Plan was received. Councillor Brenner questioned if committee members were aware of the date for comment of the draft plan had passed. It was advised that the date for comment on the first draft has passed, however, there is still time to comment on the second draft. Ross Fitchett agreed to find out what the timeframe was for comment on the second draft. Mayor Arthurs noted that comment should be received from the municipality as a host community to the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station. Councillor Brenner advised that a Notice of Motion would be brought forward at the next meeting of Council to ensure the Town of Pickering receives copies of reports from all agencies pertaining issues relating to the Pickering Generating Station and Ontario Hydro in a timely fashion for review and comment. 5. Project Clean Ken Talbot provided an update/presentation on Project Clean. (Please see attached copies of overheads). It was advised that Ontario Hydro will be involved in a Quality Peer Process to evaluate how they work as an organization and offer insight into improvement processes. Councillor Brenner requested the committee have an opportunity to provide input on the evaluation. It was agreed that Ontario Hydro would provide a copy of the Executive Summary for the committee's information. 6. Re-licensing of the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station AECB will host a re-licensing hearing on November 28, 1996 at the Holiday Inn in Oshawa. The committee were advised that there will be a open house meeting on November 27, 1996 which will provide the public with an opportunity to obtain information on the licensing of the plant. Page 3 � v it Councillor Brenner advised that he and Councillor Ryan would be bringing forth a Notice of Motion to request the Corporation of the Town of Pickering to support the re-licensing of PNGS for a period of six months only. 7. Other Business M. Rohlehr requested that the committee review if the emergency measures currently in place meet the needs of the community and ensure that all objectives are met. It was agreed that the committee go through a paper exercise to orchestrate the co-ordination of this function and evaluate it against a set plan within a controlled environment to ensure the processes in place meet the needs of the community. This exercise will provide the committee with a better understanding of the emergency measures process. It was suggested that this type of exercise may be done at a meeting in the spring. Tom Quinn stated that Tom James, was qualified in this area and noted that an exercise of this nature may not be the mandate of the committee. Tom Quinn would invite Tom James to assist with this review. 8. Date of Next Meetina The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, January 16, 1997 at 7:30 pm at the PNGS Information Centre. Note: A meeting of the sub-committee respecting an upcoming public meeting will be scheduled as soon as possible. Sub-Committee Members include: Councillor Sherry Senis Ross Fitchett, Ontario Hydro Helen Break, Representative of the Public Denise Wiese, Past President, Ajax Pickering Board of Trade 9. Adjournment adjourned at 10:10 pm The meeting J Copy: Marianne Takacs, Ajax Pickering News Advertiser Shaw Cable Page 4