No. PNR 05/05
For release - October 4, 2005
URANIUM CITY, SASKATCHEWAN — The Quantum Environmental Group has been awarded a contract worth $2,003,697 to cleanup the Bushell Public Port Facility on Lake Athabasca, near Uranium City. The announcement was made today by Finance Minister Ralph Goodale, on behalf of Transport Minister Jean C. Lapierre.
As part of the cleanup contract announced today the remaining structures (wharves and a dock) will be removed this fall and the contaminated rock and soil will be removed next summer. Along with the Quantum Environmental Group, local contractors Uranium City Contracting, of Uranium City, SK, and Tron Power Inc., of Patuanek, SK, will be working on the project.
"This is a very important clean up," said Mr. Goodale. "The Government of Canada is committed to reduce the dangers that contaminants pose to human health and the environment. Cleaning up contaminated sites reduces threats to vulnerable ecosystems, spurs economic development, enhances quality of life and rejuvenates communities."
"The Government of Canada recognizes the importance of protecting the health of the Canadian public by remediating sites under federal responsibility," said Mr. Lapierre. "This contract demonstrates our commitment to manage our contaminated sites responsibly and efficiently while cleaning up the harmful effects of past practices."
The Bushell Public Port Facility was built in 1951, on the southeastern shore of Black Bay on Lake Athabasca. The Facility was used until the mid-1980s to supply various goods and services to local mines and petroleum products to the communities of Bushell and Uranium City. As the mines closed and Bushell and Uranium City shrank in size, marine activity at the Bushell facility decreased to the occasional barge.
As a result of the unloading, storage and loading of bunker C fuel oil at the facility, the site contains oil contaminated soil, blast rock, bedrock and some sediment contamination in Bushell Inlet. Work on an environmental remedial action plan for the facility started in the late 1990s and cleanup began with the removal of a number of old buildings and tanks in 1999 and 2004.
To help reduce costs and the impact on the environment, Transport Canada is working with the Province of Saskatchewan to recycle the rock and soil from the Bushell Public Port facility for use at the Uranium City Airport runway-paving project.
The Bushell Public Port Facility was one of the sites included in last month's announcement of the Government of Canada investing $138.7 million in measures to help remediate 97 priority contaminated sites under federal responsibility. The funding is part of the Budget 2004 long-term commitment of $3.5 billion to remediate contaminated sites on federal lands.
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Contacts:
Rod NelsonTransport Canada, CommunicationsVancouver(604) 666-1675
Irène MarcheterreDirector of CommunicationsOffice of the Minister of Transport, Ottawa(613) 991-0700
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