SASKATCHEWAN WELCOMES FEDERAL COMMITMENT ON MINE SITES CLEAN-UP

The Government of Saskatchewan welcomes today's announcement that the federal government will cost share the clean-up of abandoned uranium mine sites in northern Saskatchewan. The project will primarily focus on the former Gunnar and Lorado mine and mill sites near Uranium City.

"We are pleased that Ottawa has responded to this important environmental priority," Northern Affairs Minister Buckley Belanger said. "We have been pressing for federal participation in this project for several years. Northern residents will be particularly pleased that it will now proceed."

The province was advised of federal Treasury Board approval for Natural Resources Canada to negotiate a Memorandum of Agreement based on 50-50 cost sharing. In addition to federal-provincial funding, which the province estimates at $24 million, a private company that retains ownership of a portion of the Lorado site has also agreed to contribute to the overall project costs. The $12 million provincial contribution was announced by Finance Minister Harry Van Mulligen last year.

"Our officials have provided the federal government with details as to our cost estimate for the project," Belanger said. "We are now ready to negotiate the details of an agreement as soon as possible."

The Northern Affairs Minister said northern communities will be consulted about the federal-provincial negotiations.

"We believe this project should be managed in a way that will ensure maximum training, employment and contracting opportunities for northern residents," Belanger said. "The project will provide experience and expertise that can be applied to future mine site and environmental reclamation projects in Saskatchewan and across Canada. To that end, we will continue our consultations with northerners about design of both the environmental assessment and actual remediation work."

Pending negotiation of a cost-shared agreement for clean-up of the abandoned uranium mine sites, the province had taken preliminary measures to ensure site safety and to assess the overall dimensions of the work to be done.

It is anticipated that the environmental assessment and project design phases of the remediation will take two years to complete. The actual clean-up work is then expected to occur over a three to five year period followed by on-going monitoring of the sites.

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For More Information, Contact:

Richard Turkheim Northern Affairs Regina Phone: (306) 787-2143