Saskatchewan uranium cleanup and Esperanza lead cleanup to begin

The good news is that the Canadian Press reports that cleanup of abandoned uranium mines is about to begin in northern Saskatchewan.  Apparently $25 million has been budgeted to “control the radiation risk.”   Here is more from the relevant report:

Most of the mines operated briefly near Uranium City a half a century ago, during the Cold War era.  Following the completion of their operations, the mines were abandoned at a time when environmental standards were limited or non-existent.  Since the companies that operated the mines no longer exist, the responsibility for the cleanup has fallen on governments.  The management of the project has been contracted to the Saskatchewan Research Council.

What amazes me it the small sum involved.  Many years ago on the United States Uranium Mill Tailings Remediation (UMTRA) Project, we spent nearly $1 billion on a similar project.  To find out how this same sort of work can be done at so low a cost in Canada I sought more information about the project.  The Saskatchewan Research Council website says nothing about this.  And a search using Uranium City draws a blank.  The Google search brings up nothing.  What is hapenining here? 

Is this another April joke?  I was taken in by the one referenced at this link.  But luckily my editor caught the point and precluded an embarrassment.  But you have to be impressed (suspicious) of this prose:

Geothermal sites such as rainforest areas often contain plants that are rich in secondary metabolites, particularly alkaloids, and thermo-acidic prokayotes. These can combine under the correct heterotrophic anaerobic conditions to create tetrathiamacrocycles and high molecular weight organic acids that exhibit a synergistic relationship which promotes the prokaryotic dissolution of gold and other valuable minerals. 

In other words, chemicals in the leaves of trees can get gold out of rock.  Sadly not true for those seeking to avoid using cyanide.  And not lead.  Which all makes you wonder, April or any other time of the year, how & why a society lets things get to a pass where these types of cleanups are necessary.  UMTRA is clear: the US was in a war, men were poised to embark on a mission to certain death in the Pacific, time was precious, little was known.   But lead dust blowing yesterday in the wind in violation of a valid permit?  Is this all a case of an all too human ability to believe what we want to believe because it is convenient to believe?   Let me know if you know more about Uranium City and have opinions about cost, April, cyanide, lead, or uranium.