WINNIPEG — The Government of Manitoba has approved 55 projects valued at more than $5 million under its Quarry Rehabilitation on Private Land program.
Under the 2020 program each landowner is eligible for up to $250,000 to rehabilitate depleted quarries and pits on private land. Eligible projects include private quarries that have been registered and have paid environmental levies on the property. No rehabilitation must have been paid for the same work in the last 10 years.
“This year’s exclusive program offered an opportunity for landowners wishing to do rehabilitation work on private lands, to address environmental and public safety concerns with exhausted aggregate pits and quarries. This program is helping grow our economy and put Manitobans back to work,” Manitoba Agriculture and Resource Minister Blaine Pedersen said in a statement.
In 2018 the province paused the program and conducted a review after finding financial irregularities. An internal audit and an audit by the Office of the Auditor General were conducted and helped form the new program along with further future programming with an increased emphasis on rehabilitation of abandoned pits and quarries on Crown lands.
“I’m very happy the province has relaunched the rehabilitation program this fall. The applications were quickly approved, so we were able to get back to work and clean up these private pits, so the land can again be used for agriculture,” said Elite Crushing owner Levi Wiens.
Approved projects begin in the fall and must be completed by March 31, 2021. More information about the program is available at www.gov.mb.ca/iem/mines/quarry_rehab/index.html.
Recent Comments
comments for this post are closed