(January 22, 1993) The Saskatchewan government will move to clean up an old uranium mine site dubbed one of Canada's "worst environmental nightmares" by the new Alberta Premier, Ralph Klein.
(385.3763) WISE Amsterdam - According to Saskatchewan Environment Minister Berny Wiens, the cleanup will cost millions, forcing the province to look to the federal government and the uranium industry for help to cover the costs. The Gunnar Mines site near Uranium City was decommissioned in the mid 1960's at a time when environmental regulations on cleanups were virtually non-existent. The company simply pushed the tailings into a small lake, which eventually filled up and spilled over into Lake Athabasca. This huge lake flows into the Slave River at Fort Chipweyan, Alberta and proceeds north into the MacKenzie River and on to the Arctic Ocean.
Klein, the former environment minister for Alberta, said early findings of a northern rivers study under way in Alberta show signs of contamination in fish. Wiens agrees the site should be cleaned up, but doesn't believe there is any health hazard. He said provincial and federal environment officials say there is no contamination of water beyond the local level, so there is no chance of Alberta fish being polluted. Such a statement displays alarming ignorance as to how radionuclides find their way into the environment.
It was the federally-owned crown corporation, Eldorado Nuclear, that operated the mines at Uranium City. Eldorado is now part of CAMECO, the company pushing to open more mines in northern Saskatchewan. Many are asking if CAMECO should not be held responsible for cleaning up the old messes before making new ones.
Source: Saskatoon Star Phoenix (Can), 7 and 12 Jan. 1993.
Contact: Stephanie Sydiaha, Inter-Church Uranium Committee, Box 7724, Saskatoon, Sask., CANADA S7K 4R4; tel: +1-306-934-3030; fax: 652-8377.
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From the folks at Inter-Church Uranium Committee: THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT ICUC has received many letters of support from the international community calling for an end to the nuclear industry in Sasaktchewan (see NC 382.3745). Keep them coming, they are being distributed to policticians, and keeping our morale high during this difficult time. In the meantime, we are organizing visits by international friends. In February a journalist from Kiev, Ukraine will be here, and plans for someone from Tahiti are in the works. |