Ontario @ MindSay

So uh...I had sex.

For the first time.

In London, England

with a guy from Ontario.

yep.

It hurt at first, but the whole experience was so... comfortable. It was beautiful.

Early last week, Rusty Bob and Timbits tripped north to Barrie Ontario in hopes of meeting Peter Chiodo, the owner of the Robert Simpson Brewery. The award winning brew master crafts the best beverage in Ontario, Confederation Ale. The drink is steeped in history, and the taste imparts the flavour of earlier times when lumber barons and Canada West settlers did business in Barrie.  

This brewery is situated right in the heart of old Barrie and although that's not its original historic location, it looks pelenty historic across from Barrie's legendary Queen's Hotel. And it’s the real thing in here - good beer is made (and consumed) right on the premises.

When we visited Peter he was in the middle of bottling 7500 bottles; the sales room was bare and needed to be restocked. Its been a cold and wet summer, but people don't usually forget the taste of Confederation Ale and sales are strong.

The local beer is made and sold in the name of a very successful Canadian, an historic figure who played a prominent role in nation building. One of the foremost men of his time, Robert Simpson was the 1st Mayor of Barrie in 1871, and a master brewer. Even back then he'd been brewing beer for almost thirty years up and down Yonge St.  

Tim Braithwaite is a stoneware collector. He posses a very rare Robert Simpson stoneware beer bottle that was made in 1849 as per the 1850 Toronto Business Index which lists Robert Simpson as a brewer in Toronto. This was a dark chapter in this historic brewer’s life. He disliked Toronto which was crowded and competitive.  After that experience he moved everything he had north to Barrie Ontario in 1851 and set up a brewery there. He was no doubt anticipating the railroad would bring more settlers and logging companies and he was certainly hoping that perhaps Barrie Ontario would continue to grow into a prosperous settlement.    

Robert Simpson lived in a different age when it was impossible to go online and get fire insurance or even the most basic homeowner’s insurance.

Robert Simpson had yet to find commercial success as three deadly fires had destroyed his earlier breweries in Tollendale and Newmarket. This move north to Barrie Ontario would be his fifth move in fifteen years, and at this point his wife and family were used to hard times. Remember, fires were ruinous and usually coincided with great loss of life. Survivors were usually just very happy to be alive, and they merrily went about trying to borrow money and raise capital to start over again… Simpson found such opportunity in Toronto in 1848, and then shifted his assets north to Barrie in 1851.

Now this particular stoneware beer bottle, which was made by an unknown pottery shop in Upper Canada in the late 1840s, is one of two survivors and certainly worthy of display in any museum. Tim was very generous with information and told Peter a lot of secrets concerning the manufacture and trade in period stoneware. Knowing what to collect comes from knowing how these things are made, and that’s all very important knowledge these days. Tim Braithwaite has developed a wide readership because of this rare knowledge, and his thoughts are sometimes privileged information – but something he shares freely on Dumpdiggers.  Timbits had a lot of questions for Peter Chiodo too, and this modern day expert shared a lot of great insights about the modern day business of bottling beer. Peter was just thrilled to be able to see and touch and connect with the namesake of his enterprise. Robert Simpson would also be proud of the association.   

An unbelievable proposal by the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) for a deep underground radioactive waste repository a half mile from the shore of Lake Huron is in the works. If the plan succeeds, all of Ontario's “low and intermediate” level radioactive garbage, will eventually be transported to and permanently buried at the site, which is part of the extensive Bruce nuclear complex.

What is low and intermediate?  Anything radioactive, from mops and clothing, to reactor tubes and components, is included in the categorization. The "intermediate" level waste requires special handling and can pose risks for significant periods of time.

But “low and intermediate” are arbitrary and fuzzy categories based primarily on the types of material and the overall gamma radiation dose rates.  Many observers believe that this is a totally inadequate method for determining the ultimate risks these materials could pose to the environment and especially to human health..  What is needed is a complete inventory of the specific radionuclides and their inherent radio-toxic characteristics and capabilities to do biological harm over specified periods of time.  To the best of my knowledge, no such complete analysis of the elements in so-called low and intermediate waste has been undertaken.  

We are told that nuclear reactor fuel waste will not be placed in this facility.  But this proposed repository could easily be a “Trojan Horse” for a full scale geological dump for “high-level” irradiated reactor fuel bundles, i.e., the really hot, lethal and incredibly nasty, radioactive stuff!  More about that in a moment.

While thinking about this issue, it is important to bear in mind that any amount of ionizing radiation increases cancer risks, as concluded by the U.S. National Academy of Science (NAS)  report on radiation risk, (Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation).

When the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA)  issued its draft Environmental Impact Statement guidelines for this project for public comment, I raised several salient points in my response:

Why, I asked, was the deep underground repository option chosen?
    
 The explanation in the proponent’s (Ontario Power Authority’s) original proposal was that "The deep geologic repository is being pursued as the preferred technology because of its greater margin of safety."

 It seemed to me that the proponent must explain exactly why an underground facility of this kind would provide a greater margin of  safety than the alternatives identified in its proposal. I understand that some other countries  such as the Czech Republic and Australia favor near surface engineered facilities for containment and monitoring of low and intermediate level radioactive wastes.

 
Why would anyone want to construct such a site so near to one of the Great Lakes (Lake Huron)? 

Lake Huron is one of the major bodies of  fresh water in North America–part of the Great Lakes System.  I believe that the proponent should be required to demonstrate why such a facility is to be sited on the shores of this lake. It is possible that any leaking radioactive material from the repository could impact both Canadians and U.S. residents.

I requested that the proponent be required to give a detailed explanation as to why it did not seek an alternative inland underground site which would be clearly outside of the geological zone that could affect the Great Lakes, in order to completely avoid the possibility of radioactive contamination of the lakes.  There should be zero tolerance for the permanent geological  emplacement of any radioactive wastes in the Great Lakes basin.  It is simply common sense!
 
But the big question for me is: Could this project be eventually extended to accommodate nuclear fuel waste? 

The guideline must deal more directly with the question of the possible future expansion of the proposed facility to accommodate nuclear fuel waste. Simple verbal assurances from contemporary individuals and organizations are meaningless in view of the lengthy isolation time frames required for much radioactive waste and irradiated nuclear fuel waste..

The main questions I raised in my comments are:

Why did Canada’s (industry dominated) Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO), in its final report in 2004, identify the types of rock formations which happen to be present at the proposed Bruce nuclear complex as being suitable for permanent underground storage of irradiated nuclear fuel waste?  Previously, granite rock of the Canadian Shield was considered the preferred host medium. 

Why is the limestone rock at the site considered suitable for any kind or level of radioactive waste, given the well-known connection between limestone and underground water sources?

Why, indeed, is this proposal for a radioactive waste repository on the shores of Lake Huron being contemplated at all?

Get involved!

http://www.nukeshaft.ca

 

 

It's been 6 years since my son and I joined the rest of the family for a few days of summer fun and frolic at our favorite spot in Northern Ontario. I'm pretty sure I learned more about myself in the few short days with my family than I learned in the previous 2 seminars I attended just days before!


My son and his cousins represent the 5th generation on Red Cedar Lake Camp! My Great Grandfather helped to build one of the fishing camps on the lake. 250 miles North of Toronto, my Grandmother talks of 12 hour drives on rutted roads sleeping on the floorboards of the family car as a child. Today the drive is just under 5 hours with widened and paved roads! Our summer getaway is a serene and fairly untouched lake. It sits on Crown land and there's very few private property owners on the lake itself. The energy of the place rejuvenates the soul and quiets the mind, even though it takes a couple days to acclimatize to the slower, more relaxed pace! We catch the most fish too! After 5 generations we are "at one" with the fish...


I'm always pleasantly surprised at how "functional" our family is in this environment, the drama and challenges get put aside and left behind - fun is the focus of the days. Rich customs and rituals have developed over years of gathering together for the annual time-out. July is a month of anniversaries - Mom & Dad's 46th this year, birthdays and first times in the water!


We had so much fun, next year we have reservations to stay for a month!