The most-recent report on Crown contaminated sites shows the Province continues to demonstrate its commitment to environmental stewardship through ongoing remediation.

The Crown Contaminated Sites Program was established in 2003 to manage high-risk contaminated sites on Crown land. The majority of these sites are from historical industrial activities that occurred before potential impacts to human health and the environment were fully understood.

The Province has invested more than $237 million into the program to identify and clean up high-risk contaminated sites on Crown land. Since the program began in 2003, the Province has investigated a total of 82 sites, with 13 sites being completely remediated. For the next two years, the Province will focus on remediating the 13 remaining priority sites.

In addition to important ecological and human health benefits, remediating contaminated sites often supports communities by providing employment and training opportunities. As an example, community involvement from three Tse Keh Nay First Nations on sites within their traditional territory was instrumental in prioritizing sites, completing the initial assessments and completing important site cleanup.

The Crown Land Restoration Program Biennial Report 2012 is available online: http://www.agf.gov.bc.ca/clad/ccs/reports.html.

Contact:

Brennan Clarke
Media Relations
Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations
250 356-5261