Dear Editor,
This letter has two parts. First is the issue of our so-called declining community.
While many statements have been made about how our city is “slowly dying,” what many don’t realize is that Flin Flon’s population has always been, and always will be, defined by HBM&S, now Hudbay.
Like any small community with a single industry, economics are based on that industry and how it interacts with that community. Back in the late ’60s and early ’70s, Flin Flon had a population of over 12,000 people and HBM&S had a workforce of over 3,300.
As new technologies come into play, workforce diminishes and so does the community. When I got hired in 1984-85, HBM&S had around 2,400 workers and we had a population of about 9,600 to 9,800 people.
HB downsized and brought in even newer technology and now has a Flin Flon-Snow Lake workforce totalling 1,460 (though that number is always fluid). Flin Flon has maintained a population that now stands at 5,592, with a portion moving out to cottage country.
Flin Flon actually seemed to grow slightly over the past few years with retirees moving back to what was supposed to be a much cheaper retirement compared to BC.
With massive underestimating on behalf of the city, and the scramble to cover the ever-increasing cost of city repairs that they knew needed to be done decades ago, some retirees have commented that at current rates it’s actually cheaper to live back in some BC communities.
A secondary industry is greatly needed in any form. Which leads to my second issue: nuclear waste management.
I never made it to a meeting on the issue; however, I did get a chance to tour the Pinawa nuclear research facility in southern Manitoba when it was open back in the ’90s.
For those naysayers, I say too bad they never got a chance to tour this amazing facility. The technology that was put into developing a safe and effective storage facility for spent nuclear reactor rods is astounding.
What I was amazed at is how Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) graciously backed out of Creighton under the guise of “unsuitable ground conditions.” I laugh!
The Pinawa site had storage levels 3,000 feet below surface in the identical rock formation as us. Their office was located five to 10 minutes from the Canadian Shield itself. In fact, their surface office and head frame were a mere 15-minute drive to the nearest river system by Lac du Bonnet.
A very deceiving situation, but nonetheless, their main experimental areas were in fact within the same rock as we mine here in Flin Flon and area. There is no water at 3,000 feet. There is no water table contamination to worry about.
Nuclear waste transport containers have been tested to withstand 60 to 80 mph impacts into concrete walls. With the exception of a nuclear bomb itself, the shipping containers have even been tested against a small arsenal of explosive devices and survived without even a dent in the casing.
So all who freak at the mere mention of “nuclear” have pushed away what could have been a saving grace for the area, a second form of industry.
A facility like this would have demanded massively improved roads to the North. The Saskatchewan government would have/could have handed Creighton the silver platter to develop a better highway into the North.
I guess those naysayers must have lots of money, because others in our communities are still trying to figure out where they’ll get the dollars to pay for their next hydro bill, property tax bill or to buy a few extra groceries for the next week, maybe two.
I would estimate that only 20 per cent of the area population works at Hudbay, making a comfortable wage, with another 10 per cent working for some form of government, municipal or provincial. The other 70 per cent of our residents still have trouble making ends meet between paydays.
Any new industry will always bring hazards to the area, but consider which has the least impact on us, our health and our daily lives.
Mike Besler
Flin Flon
