Saskatchewan government helping Shaunavon with site cleanup

Shaunavon is getting some financial help from the Saskatchewan government with a major cleanup in the town.

In a media release Friday, the Ministry of Environment announced it was giving the town $36,800 through the Impacted Sites Fund to deal with petroleum hydrocarbon contamination at a site in the town.

“We know that contaminated sites can pose a risk to the health of the environment as well as the health of the people of Saskatchewan,” Environment Minister Dana Skoropad said in the release.

“It’s great news that we can assist Shaunavon cleaning up this piece of land and help them recover some of the costs they’ve faced since acquiring the property.”

The town discovered the contamination at an abandoned property that Shaunavon acquired in tax arrears in 2022. The government said the funding will help the town with its cleanup operation so it can sell the property and recoup unpaid tax losses and other expenses.

“We are honoured to work with the Ministry of Environment to clean up our town and mitigate this environmental hazard properly,” Shaunavon Mayor Kyle Bennett said in the release. “When the building was declared a public safety hazard and deemed as dilapidated, the town through an Order to Remedy proceeded to clean up the site as soon as possible.

“During the site clean-up, a contractor detected the presence of potential soil contamination by noticing a strong petroleum scent. Soil samples were collected and sent off for analysis. Our fear became reality when the samples showed hydrocarbon contamination.”

Bennett said the town will apply for more funding to help with the full cleanup of the site.

The government said the Impacted Sites Fund was created to give municipalities financial help to address orphaned environmentally impacted sites. The money in the fund comes from fines collected when an infraction occurs under The Environmental Management and Protection Act.