CBC reports on the agreement of Déline and Tlicho leaders to remediation and clean-up plans for uranium contamination at the abandoned Port Radium mine on the east side of Great Bear Lake in the Northwest Territories. The mine was in production from 1930 to 1982, and was decommissioned and cleaned up according to the standards of the day. According to the government, “there are sill high radiation level areas and hazardous waste that need to be dealt with.” A $7 million contract was awarded to the Yellowknife Aboriginal Engineering Ltd., and will seek to employ a maximum number of people from Déline, which has a long history of community members working at the site. Cleanup is expected to last several years. The Déline Uranium Team has investigated claims of cancer and wild food contamination from the mine, and has produced a number of oral history videos and book retrospectives commemorating the mine workers, and the impact of uranium development on the community.

Sources:

• CBC: Déline and Tlicho Agreement, Clean-up Contract
• Deline Chief and Council and INAC: Action Plan: to address concerns raised by the community of Deline about risks to human and environmental health from exposure to radiation and heavy metals from the former Port Radium Mine, Great Bear Lake, NWT (Download PDF).
• NNSL News: Clean-up Contract, Canada-Deline Uranium Table Report, Action Plan
• Uranium Stories (Déline.ca)

Updates:

• Northern News Services: “Deline says no to further uranium development” (Jan. 21, 2008).