TORONTO Last January’s emergency alert sent in error about an incident at the Pickering Generating Station sparked a flurry of panicked messages from nearby residents wondering if they should swallow their radiation-blocking iodide pills and a lengthy game of hot potato among energy workers about what happened and who would correct it. Hundreds of pages of email exchanges from that morning obtained by CTV News Toronto through access to information legislation show mass confusion over who sent the errant alert, which lasted through the morning and involved cabinet ministers and the Secretary of Cabinet. They also show that Ontario Power Generation (OPG), which owns and operates the Pickering plant, had an internal staff discussion about its own industry-specific alert system, a system it could have used to spread the message about the first alert being an error but one they ultimately chose not to use.
Last Updated Friday, December 18, 2020 5:31PM EST Last January’s emergency alert sent in error about an incident at the Pickering Generating Station sparked a flurry of panicked messages from nearby residents wondering if they should swallow their radiation-blocking iodide pills and a lengthy game of hot potato among energy workers about what happened and who would correct it. Hundreds of pages of email exchanges from that morning obtained by CTV News Toronto through access to information legislation show mass confusion over who sent the errant alert, which lasted through the morning and involved cabinet ministers and the Secretary of Cabinet.