Righting Past Wrongs: The Case for a Federal Role in Decommissioning and Reclaiming Abandoned Uranium Mines in Northern Saskatchewan

Abstract

In the first decades of the Cold War, northern Saskatchewan provided the United States military with a valuable, stable supply of uranium for strategic purposes. The mining operations that were developed to supply uranium to the United States military in this era ceased operations in the 1960s. Yet the people of northern Saskatchewan continue to live with the environmental and human health and safety risks of these mines to this day because, under the federal laws that regulated these mines in the 1960s, they were simply abandoned when they outlived their usefulness. As well, due to a quirk of Canadian constitutional law, the federal government has also abandoned its responsibilities for these sites and now claims that they are the responsibility of the Government of Saskatchewan. In the midst of this, 40 mines and 2 uranium mill sites remain abandoned and continue to pose a risk to the people who live in the vicinity. While the greatest concern should be for the environmental and health and safety risks these sites pose to the residents of the region, it is also worth noting that the current uranium mining industry views government inaction in addressing these abandoned sites as a continuing impediment to the public acceptance of their current operations, their international reputation, and their future growth in this province. This stems in large part from the fact that the general public does not differentiate between the historical owners of the properties in question and the (unrelated) uranium mining companies currently active in the province.