Cook County, Illinois Joins Call to Stop Proposed Nuclear Waste Dump

On October 8, 2014 the Cook County Board of Commissioners unanimously passed a resolution opposing the construction of a nuclear waste repository on Lake Huron as proposed by Ontario Power Generation.

This is a refreshing recognition of how water decisions in other parts of the Lakes affect us all. Many problems arise from the fact that the Great Lakes are largely governed as if the political boundaries and borders were meaningful when it comes to protecting water. But we know that water is water and what we do it in one place will affect any connected water bodies.

Cook County, representing 5.2 million citizens including the City of Chicago, joins 135 communities across all Great Lakes States and in Ontario who have passed resolutions formally opposing the nuclear waste plan. It is wonderful to see communities bucking the usual decision making patterns and inserting themselves into a water issue in another part of the Lakes. We are all downstream from bad water decisions.

Click here to view the Press Release.