{"id":104607,"date":"2026-05-11T13:57:50","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T17:57:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=104607"},"modified":"2026-05-11T13:58:47","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T17:58:47","slug":"its-not-a-done-deal-community-nearest-nuclear-waste-site-to-hire-lawyer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/11\/its-not-a-done-deal-community-nearest-nuclear-waste-site-to-hire-lawyer\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;It&#8217;s not a done deal&#8217;: Community nearest nuclear waste site to hire lawyer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Maya Ekman, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, NWOnewswatch.com MELGUND \u2014 \u201cIts nice to be recognized finally, because we haven\u2019t been up until now.\u201d Pat Daignault is chair of the Melgund Local Services Board, the highest elected official for the unorganized community just 12 kilometres from the proposed location of a deep-geological repository for high-level nuclear waste. The tiny community of only 49 permanent residents is closer to the Revell Lake site than host communities Ignace and Wabigoon Lake Objbwe Nation, although the site is within the traditional territories of both Wabigoon and Eagle Lake First Nation. On April 22, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) and Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) held an open house and presentation in Dyment, a small settlement within Melgund. &#8220;The decision on whether the&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F05%2F11%2Fits-not-a-done-deal-community-nearest-nuclear-waste-site-to-hire-lawyer%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Maya Ekman, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, NWOnewswatch.com MELGUND \u2014 \u201cIts nice to be recognized finally, because we haven\u2019t been up until now.\u201d Pat Daignault is chair of the Melgund Local Services Board, the highest elected official for the unorganized community just 12 kilometres from the proposed location of a deep-geological repository for high-level nuclear waste. The tiny community of only 49 permanent residents is closer to the Revell Lake site than host communities Ignace and Wabigoon Lake Objbwe Nation, although the site is within the traditional territories of both Wabigoon and Eagle Lake First Nation. On April 22, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) and Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) held an open house and presentation in Dyment, a small settlement within Melgund. &#8220;The decision on whether the... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F05%2F11%2Fits-not-a-done-deal-community-nearest-nuclear-waste-site-to-hire-lawyer%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>&#039;It&#039;s not a done deal&#039;: Community nearest nuclear waste site to hire lawyer - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/11\/its-not-a-done-deal-community-nearest-nuclear-waste-site-to-hire-lawyer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"&#039;It&#039;s not a done deal&#039;: Community nearest nuclear waste site to hire lawyer - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Maya Ekman, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, NWOnewswatch.com MELGUND \u2014 \u201cIts nice to be recognized finally, because we haven\u2019t been up until now.\u201d Pat Daignault is chair of the Melgund Local Services Board, the highest elected official for the unorganized community just 12 kilometres from the proposed location of a deep-geological repository for high-level nuclear waste. The tiny community of only 49 permanent residents is closer to the Revell Lake site than host communities Ignace and Wabigoon Lake Objbwe Nation, although the site is within the traditional territories of both Wabigoon and Eagle Lake First Nation. On April 22, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) and Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) held an open house and presentation in Dyment, a small settlement within Melgund. &#8220;The decision on whether the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/11\/its-not-a-done-deal-community-nearest-nuclear-waste-site-to-hire-lawyer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-11T17:57:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-11T17:58:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/11\\\/its-not-a-done-deal-community-nearest-nuclear-waste-site-to-hire-lawyer\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/11\\\/its-not-a-done-deal-community-nearest-nuclear-waste-site-to-hire-lawyer\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"&#8216;It&#8217;s not a done deal&#8217;: Community nearest nuclear waste site to hire lawyer\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-11T17:57:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-11T17:58:47+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/11\\\/its-not-a-done-deal-community-nearest-nuclear-waste-site-to-hire-lawyer\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":779,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/11\\\/its-not-a-done-deal-community-nearest-nuclear-waste-site-to-hire-lawyer\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/11\\\/its-not-a-done-deal-community-nearest-nuclear-waste-site-to-hire-lawyer\\\/\",\"name\":\"'It's not a done deal': Community nearest nuclear waste site to hire lawyer - The Turtle Island News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-11T17:57:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-11T17:58:47+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/11\\\/its-not-a-done-deal-community-nearest-nuclear-waste-site-to-hire-lawyer\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/11\\\/its-not-a-done-deal-community-nearest-nuclear-waste-site-to-hire-lawyer\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/11\\\/its-not-a-done-deal-community-nearest-nuclear-waste-site-to-hire-lawyer\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"&#8216;It&#8217;s not a done deal&#8217;: Community nearest nuclear waste site to hire lawyer\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Turtle Island News\",\"description\":\"Your Source for Local News\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Turtle Island News\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/turtle150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/turtle150.jpg\",\"width\":140,\"height\":150,\"caption\":\"Turtle Island News\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/TurtleIslandNews\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/newsattheturtle\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCOqB-hG3L6hRLsmqY0e5k0g\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\",\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lynda Powless\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/lynda\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"'It's not a done deal': Community nearest nuclear waste site to hire lawyer - The Turtle Island News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/11\/its-not-a-done-deal-community-nearest-nuclear-waste-site-to-hire-lawyer\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"'It's not a done deal': Community nearest nuclear waste site to hire lawyer - The Turtle Island News","og_description":"By Maya Ekman, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, NWOnewswatch.com MELGUND \u2014 \u201cIts nice to be recognized finally, because we haven\u2019t been up until now.\u201d Pat Daignault is chair of the Melgund Local Services Board, the highest elected official for the unorganized community just 12 kilometres from the proposed location of a deep-geological repository for high-level nuclear waste. The tiny community of only 49 permanent residents is closer to the Revell Lake site than host communities Ignace and Wabigoon Lake Objbwe Nation, although the site is within the traditional territories of both Wabigoon and Eagle Lake First Nation. On April 22, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) and Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) held an open house and presentation in Dyment, a small settlement within Melgund. &#8220;The decision on whether the","og_url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/11\/its-not-a-done-deal-community-nearest-nuclear-waste-site-to-hire-lawyer\/","og_site_name":"The Turtle Island News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/","article_published_time":"2026-05-11T17:57:50+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-05-11T17:58:47+00:00","og_image":[{"width":725,"height":483,"url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lynda Powless","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@newsattheturtle","twitter_site":"@newsattheturtle","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lynda Powless","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/11\/its-not-a-done-deal-community-nearest-nuclear-waste-site-to-hire-lawyer\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/11\/its-not-a-done-deal-community-nearest-nuclear-waste-site-to-hire-lawyer\/"},"author":{"name":"Lynda Powless","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458"},"headline":"&#8216;It&#8217;s not a done deal&#8217;: Community nearest nuclear waste site to hire lawyer","datePublished":"2026-05-11T17:57:50+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-11T17:58:47+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/11\/its-not-a-done-deal-community-nearest-nuclear-waste-site-to-hire-lawyer\/"},"wordCount":779,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["National News","ticker"],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/11\/its-not-a-done-deal-community-nearest-nuclear-waste-site-to-hire-lawyer\/","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/11\/its-not-a-done-deal-community-nearest-nuclear-waste-site-to-hire-lawyer\/","name":"'It's not a done deal': Community nearest nuclear waste site to hire lawyer - The Turtle Island News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-05-11T17:57:50+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-11T17:58:47+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/11\/its-not-a-done-deal-community-nearest-nuclear-waste-site-to-hire-lawyer\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/11\/its-not-a-done-deal-community-nearest-nuclear-waste-site-to-hire-lawyer\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/11\/its-not-a-done-deal-community-nearest-nuclear-waste-site-to-hire-lawyer\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"&#8216;It&#8217;s not a done deal&#8217;: Community nearest nuclear waste site to hire lawyer"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/","name":"The Turtle Island News","description":"Your Source for Local News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization","name":"Turtle Island News","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/turtle150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/turtle150.jpg","width":140,"height":150,"caption":"Turtle Island News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/","https:\/\/x.com\/newsattheturtle","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCOqB-hG3L6hRLsmqY0e5k0g"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458","name":"Lynda Powless","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Lynda Powless"},"url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/author\/lynda\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/101363"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104607"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104607\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":104611,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104607\/revisions\/104611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}