Government promises to clean up contaminated military and mine sites

The Government of Canada announced it will be spending $175 million to remediate 57 priority contaminated sites that are under its control across Canada. The announcement was made in mid-May amid a flurry of spending promises as the country heads for a general election on June 28. The $175 million allocation is part of a $3.5 billion long-term funding program that was announced in the Liberal’s Budget 2004 for cleaning up contaminated sites on federal lands.

The Honourable David Anderson, Minister of the Environment, made the announcement at the Harvey Barracks site in Calgary. Clean-up of the barracks has been going on for the past eight years for the Department of National Defense and the T’suu Tina First Nation. Golder Associates assessed the 940-acre site and oversaw its remediation, which cost $72 million.

Some of the other priority sites that have been earmarked for by the federal government for an accelerated clean-up include the Faro Mine in Yukon, the Colomac Mine in the Northwest Territories, various Distant Early Warning line sites, Resolution Island, the Scuffled Canadian Forces base in Alberta, and the Canadian Forces Base Greenwood in Nova Scotia.

The Sydney Tar Ponds recently received $280 million from the same $3.5 billion budgeted pot.

Meanwhile, the Hon. John Gerretson, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing for Ontario announced in Toronto on June 1 that it will be changing its policies to encourage the clean up and redevelopment of brownfields.

More information on the federal contaminated sites inventory is at www.tbs-sct.gc.ca