50 Yrs Since Mercury Spill In NW Ontario On First Nation Land, But Premier Wants More Studies
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne says more research is needed before the province can consider a cleanup of the 50-year-old mercury contamination near Grassy Narrows First Nation in northwestern Ontario. She was responding to the public release on Monday of a report on human and ecological health at Grassy Narrows that was commissioned by the province and the First Nation. Reed Paper in Dryden, Ont. dumped mercury in the English-Wabigoon River beginning in 1962 until the province ordered it to stop in 1970.
The new report shows the amount of mercury currently in some lakes is twice the threshold level that should trigger a clean-up under Canadian guidelines. It also shows rising contamination levels in some waterways that are the main source of fish, a staple food, for people at Grassy Narrows.
"There are a lot of difficult questions," Wynne said. "The scientists have said to us there are questions about how to actually do the cleanup because moving the sediment at the bottom can actually cause further damage. So we have to be very careful."
Community leaders said the remediation needs to be done before another generation suffers the effects of mercury poisoning. "The shaking, the tremors, are even starting to show in the youth," said Grassy Narrows Deputy Chief Randy Fobister.
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http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/ontario-premier-kathleen-wynne-won-t-commit-to-grassy-narrows-mercury-cleanup-1.3114673
