Province Gets Say on Fate of Northern Uranium Mine
Wednesday, June 18, 2003 at 21:27
The provincial government and the Lac La Ronge Indian Band have been granted intervenor status in the appeal of a court ruling involving the McClean Lake uranium mine.
A Saskatoon-based environmental group won a federal court ruling in September that ordered the mine to be shut down because its operating licence was not approved under current environmental regulations.
The mine has been allowed to continue to operate while its owner, COGEMA Resources, files an appeal of the ruling.
Northern Resource Trucking had earlier been granted intervenor status.
Officials with the La Ronge band and NRT say they don’t see the operation of the McClean Lake mine as a threat to the environment or people’s health, but do see it as a threat to northern residents’ livelihoods.
The provincial government is opposing a new environmental assessment for the mine because it feels it compromises the coordination of environmental reviews by both the province and Ottawa, leading to unnecessary costs and a duplication of work.
No date has been set for the appeal hearing.