Zoe McKnight, Postmedia News | 13/08/06 10:11 AM ET
VANCOUVER — The federal government has spent $70 million since 2005
to clean up leftover explosives that litter hundreds of sites across the
country, the Vancouver Sun has learned. Fifteen people have been killed and at least 20 others seriously
injured at Canadian sites that are confirmed or under assessment for
having unexploded ordnance, said John Preston, project director with the
federal Unexploded Explosive Ordnance (UXO) and Legacy Sites program. There are more than 860 sites with leftover explosives across Canada
and another 1,100 sites off the Atlantic coast that are considered a
risk for live explosives. “We have a grip on how big the problem is nationally, and a pretty
good idea of the number of sites we’re dealing with,” Preston said.The challenge now is to create a 25-year plan to deal with the deadly
material, especially as cities sprawl into formerly vacant or rural
land, said Preston, who has been working with the program since its
inception and is responsible for the Vernon, B.C., file. There’s now a lawsuit pending between the defence department and
developer K & L Land Partnership over land slated for a residential
subdivision near B.C.’s Kalamalka Lake. At issue are the buried
historical explosives from the former Vernon Military Camp. Nine people —
including Boy Scouts Grant Morgan and Don Hope — have been killed and
three others injured in the area between 1948 and 1973. Morgan and Hope
were killed in 1963 when an unexploded mortar detonated. Earlier this summer, The Sun reported there were more than
200 sites with unexploded munitions in B.C. alone, including 143 sites
on the mainland from Vancouver to Fort Nelson and 58 off the Pacific
coastline. The unexploded bombs, flares, grenades and mortars are remnants of
Canada’s military history and are found on training bases and other
property that once belonged to the Department of National Defence. The
munitions are still considered live, highly dangerous and sometimes
fatal. They’ve been found in backyards, parks and farmers’ fields. (more)
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(PDF, 272.0 kB) Practicing UXO Safety in Vernon, BC
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