Indian Affairs says it will conduct a survey to determine whether radioactive waste is buried at a former military base in Ontario now occupied by Chippewa protesters.
The Chippewa say a solider told them that dozens of drums with radiation hazard symbols were buried in the dead of night at the Camp Ipperwash grenade range in 1979.
Indian Affairs says it couldn’t find any documentation that waste was buried at the base, but will investigate the site.
The Chippewa occupied the base in the summer of 1995 after growing tired of waiting for the government to return the land.
Camp Ipperwash was the site of a police attack on Native protesters that summer during which Dudley George, 30, was shot dead by a police bullet. Police also shot and wounded a 15-year-old protester.
A SWAT team member was charged in the killing, but George’s family has sued the Ontario government and is demanding an inquiry.
The police officers were reportedly drunk when they launched their assault. One officer allegedly promised George just hours before the fatal shooting that he would be killed.
