March 07, 2004
Keith Gilligan, Staff Writer
*Ajax Pickering News Advertiser
PICKERING - Residents should be consulted before sirens are erected within three kilometres of the Pickering nuclear station, says a Pickering councillor.
Maurice Brenner adds a resolution will be considered by Pickering council Monday calling for public consultations, which "can be done very quickly."
The sirens are a provincial requirement within three kilometres of a nuclear station. Coun. Brenner says local councillors support the alerting system, but have concerns about the towers the sirens will sit on.
The towers and sirens are "very powerful looking. They're very striking. The reality is we may not have any say over what they use," the councillor notes.
"I think everyone is in agreement an alerting system is a requirement. It's an insurance policy," he added noting Pickering council is on record supporting an alerting system of up to 10 kilometres.
Some of the poles would be in residential areas, he notes, adding they could be moved to other locations and still be effective.
"A public alerting system is mandated," says Ivan Ciuciura, the director of emergency management for Durham Region. "There has to be one within three kilometres of a nuclear station."
The federal government has set the standard for public alerting, which is a system operating within 15 minutes, warning as close to 100 per cent of the population as possible, both indoors and outdoors, anytime of the day or year.
"It doesn't mandate sirens, but the system must meet the standard," Mr. Ciuciura says.
Installing the 27 sirens is costing Ontario Power Generation $1.6 million.
The Region and lakeshore communities - Pickering, Ajax, Whitby, Oshawa and Clarington - have been meeting as a group since 1998 on an alerting system, Mr. Ciuciura adds.
In 2000, OPG paid for a consultant to do a study and it recommended sirens for outside.
That recommendation was approved by the Region and local municipalities, and in 2001 another consulting firm was retained to design a system.
"There isn't a viable alternative outdoors, except sirens," he notes, adding a radio-activated system could be used indoors.
Mr. Ciuciura says the issue being raised among Pickering politicians is "they obviously have a problem with the sirens, although they approved them. There are ongoing discussions."
Some of the equipment has already been shipped, he adds.
The poles are about 10-feet taller than a telephone pole so the sirens "clear the tree tops."
He added an acoustical study done by the consultants found the best locations.
"They weren't randomly stuck here and there."
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