Massena proposes nuclear facility idea

Massena Town Supervisor Joseph Gray announced last week that bringing a nuclear facility to the North Country could be the answer to Massena’s economic downturn.

Although the project is still just an idea and has had no development, Gray and Massena Mayor James Hidy said they are hoping to hear public input and will go in the direction given by their constituents.

Gray said no location has been determined for the project,but fear in Akwesasne is that the proposed nuclear project would be built at the now vacant GM Powertrain site in Rooseveltown, on the bank of the St. Lawrence River and bordering the Mohawk territory.

“The biggest issue seen now with these nuclear plants is how they dispose of their waste,” said Craig Arquette of the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe’s Environment Division. “They normally store their waste on site, so it’s always going to be a problem – forever.”

As seen with the GM Corporation, environmental contamination can happen. At the Rooseveltown site, GM dumped PCBs into the St. Lawrence River leading to a class action lawsuit.

The site for any nuclear facility would be chosen at a later date and Gray said a committee will be set up if people in Massena want the idea to move forward. The project would take a decade at minimum to be developed, but Massena officials said it would create hundreds of jobs.