Millions Allocated To Clean-Up Of Old Mine Sites
Monday, April 02, 2007 at 16:48
The Conservative government has announced it will cost-share the first phase of the clean-up of abandoned uranium mine and mill sites in northern Saskatchewan.
The federal and provincial governments will split the $24.6-million cost.
The clean-up project is the result of an agreement between the two levels of government to decommission and reclaim “Cold War legacy mines”. They were small, short-term mining operations conducted in the 1950s and 1960s — primarily in the Uranium City area.
The mines were abandoned when environmental controls for decommissioning and reclaiming such sites were limited or non-existent.
Since the mining companies involved no longer exist, northern residents have looked to governments to address the issue.
A government-commissioned study found that some of the sites pose a significant risk to human health and safety, as well as the environment.