Enoch Cree Nation Chief Ron Morin announced at a press conference Tuesday morning that the Indian Lakes Golf Club will be closing. They say the public is at risk. The land the course sits on was used as a practice bombing range during World War II, and there is some question as to whether or not all of the fragments have been removed.
The Department of National Defence says that flash and smoke bombs were the only munitions used in the area, but the Enoch Cree Nation says that a 105mm shell was found on the land approximately three years ago.
"We have a hard time believing, as Chief and Council, that all they were dropping was smoke bombs." Morin told the media.
The Department of National Defence has released a statement saying that they have been conducting work at the site since 2006. During the summer of 2011 approximately 4,000 bomb fragments were removed from the area, but the department says that no training bombs or high explosives were found at the site. The site has been reassessed as having a low UXO risk. The statement goes on to say "The DND UXO and Legacy Sites Program strives to provide the public with a safe and risk-free environment. However, limitations of existing UXO detection technology means that no UXO legacy site can ever be declared completely hazard-free, even after a clearance activity."
The Enoch Cree Nation is asking the Federal Government to disclose all munition activity that took place on the site between 1942 and 1944. They are also looking for full compensation from the government.
