Identity area
Type of entity
Corporate body
Authorized form of name
Warman and District Concerned Citizens Group (Warman, Saskatchewan)
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1976-1982
History
The Warman and District Concerned Citizens Group (WDCCG) was formed in response to plans discovered in 1976 for a uranium refinery to be built near Warman, Saskatchewan by Eldorado mining and Refining, a crown corporation of the Canadian government. Members were worried about potential effects a refinery might have on their community, including fears that radioactive waste could contaminate water supplies and cause problems for crops and livestock of local farmers. The majority-Mennonite community were also concerned that refined uranium might be used in the production of nuclear warheads.
The group first met in fall of 1976 in the nearby town of Osler. Ernie Hildebrand became the chair of the group. Their first meeting in Warman occurred in April 1977 and was attended by about 35 people. By 1980, the group consisted of over 500 members with Erne Hildebrand leading the group. They had support of many other environmental and anti-nuclear citizens’ groups and received funding from Saskatchewan Environment.
In January of 1980, the Federal Environmental Assessment Review Organization (FEARO) held a series of hearings to assess the impact of building the Warman plant. WDCCG arranged for expert witnesses to appear at these hearings, but also encouraged statements from local residents about how the proposed plant would affect their lives. In all, over 350 people and organizations presented briefs to the committee, the majority of which were against the idea of building the plant.
In August of 1980, FEARO announced that it would not endorse the building of the refinery unless further research was done into the social impacts of the plant on the local community. Eldorado Nuclear withdrew their options to the land soon after. The case is notable, as former WDCCG chairman Ernie Hildebrand said at a celebratory meeting of community members following the announcement, as it was “the first time in Canadian history [that] such an Environmental Review Panel has acknowledged that the human environment is at least as important as the physical invironment [sic]”. (Vol 6909, file 97)
Places
Warman (Saskatchewan)