The Uranium Mining Industry of the Bancroft Area: An Environmental History and Heritage Assessment

The Uranium Mining Industry of the Bancroft Area: An Environmental History and Heritage Assessment

Proulx, Michele

Wadland, John; Whillans, Tom
Departments: Canadian Studies and Environmental Studies

TPB-591

1997

U-Links Office and online

Bancroft

Uranium mining industry

The environmental history of the Bancroft area is presented with emphasis on the rise and decline of the uranium mining industry, from the early 1950s until the present day. The Bancroft area uranium industry offers lessons about global trade and the changing economies of one place that reflect patterns of economic boom and bust experienced on a regional, national, and global scale. The case study of the decommissioning of the Madawaska Mine and the community activism associated with this process, as well as with the abandoned Bicroft and Dyno mines, illustrate the dynamic between the community, government agencies and private companies. It offers lessons about the waste legacies of such industries and the resolution of conflicts concerning the delegation of long-term responsibility for these wastes and extends lessons about mining and milling technologies, the influence of global politics, and environmental stewardship.

Trent University