Uranium City is seeking compensation for environmental damage left behind by mining operations more than three decades ago.
Dean Classen is the chair of the local advisory committee for Uranium City and he was presenting Thursday morning at public hearings in Saskatoon on Cameco’s application to renew its licence to continue decommissioning the Beaverlodge mine.
Classen says his community supports the licence renewal, but believes it should be compensated for upgrades to housing left behind by mining operations and contamination to local lakes.
“Beaverlodge and Martin Lake, there’s a fish advisory that we cannot fish more than a certain amount of fish out of it because it is contaminated with selenium,” he says. “This is a legacy that Eldorado left from tailings actually going into Beaverlodge Lake.”
The public hearings into Cameco’s renewal application wrapped up this morning.
Public hearings into Cameco’s application to begin operations at the Cigar Lake mine wrapped up yesterday.
In addition, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission heard a submission from the Saskatchewan Research Council for an exemption from the requirement to hold a licence to possess, manage and store nuclear substances at the Gunnar mine site until the end of December 2016.
The commission should make a decision on Cameco’s application to begin operations at Cigar Lake in about six weeks.