Mercury contamination in Grassy Narrows
[9] In a 1958 article in The Lancet, two medical doctors reported their findings which confirmed a "link between methylmercury contaminated fish and human neurologic symptoms.
[10][9] A 2017 Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) noted that while investigations in Japan had been proceeding in the 1960s and 1970s, a similar case of a local epidemic of mercury poisoning was unfolding in Northern Canada.
The government knew that Reed Paper Group's chloralkali plant, established in 1962, had discharged over 9 tons of metallic mercury into the river system.
[2]: e141 In their final report submitted to the Attorney General of Ontario on June 28, 1985, in regards to the mercury contamination of the river system used by the Grassy Narrows and White Dog First Nations "from which these communities derived employment and sustenance", the commission recommended that "until the claims of White Dog and Grassy Narrows are settled, the Government of Ontario should not grant any cutting rights to Great Lakes Forest Products Ltd., or any subsequent owner of the Dryden Mill Complex, in forest land outside existing company management units.
[3] On April 6, 1970, René Brunelle, then "Ontario Minister of Lands and Forests closed all commercial and sport fishing in the Wabigoon River below Dryden up to and including Clay Lake.
On May 1, he announced that commercial fishing was closed on Ball, Lount, Indian, Grassy Narrows, Separation, Umfreville, Tetu, Swan, and Eaglenest Lakes.
[20]: 221 On 13 August 1970, George Albert Kerr (1924 – 2007) then Minister of Energy and Resources Management of Ontario, reassured the local community that the Wabigoon river would recover naturally within twelve weeks without government intervention or a cleanup.
A former chief who has all the " symptoms of advanced mercury-induced disease are evident: the slurred speech, the twisted and cramped arms, the twitch and part paralysis of his face", said, "It was a good life...In our bodies, in our minds, we’re always going to be gathering off the land.
"[7] Barney and Marion Lamm's Ball Lake Lodge—where the English and Wabigoon rivers meet—150 kilometres (93 mi) downstream of the Dryden factory, since its opening in 1947, had employed about 300 Grassy Narrows community members year-round as "fishing guides for wealthy tourists".
To prepare for the lawsuit they hired a University of Western Ontario graduate student, Norvald Fimreite, to "study mercury levels in local flora and fauna" which revealed, "mercury levels far exceeding international standards, among the highest recorded in the Western hemisphere"[5] The Lamm collection of documents in preparation for the lawsuit is now in held at Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
"[24][25][9][28] In response to these tests, Leo Bernier, who was the Ontario Minister of Natural Resources in 1975, said on CBC's As It Happens that there were "no real damages" to the First Nations of the Grassy Narrows and White Dog areas and that the federal authorities had verified that.
[7] In response to the mercury contamination, Grassy Narrows and White Dog reserves formed the Anti-Mercury Ojibwa Group (AMOG) in 1975 as part of their preparation for legal action.
AMOG commissioned the report entitled, "The economic and social impact of mercury pollution on the Whitedog and Grassy Narrows Indian Reserves, Ontario", which was published in 1979.
[20] A 1976 Canadian Medical Association Journal article "Methyl mercury poisoning in Canada", disregarded the data from Harada, because they did not factor in "fully-developed intoxication".
"[31][32] In a March 23, 1976 The Fifth Estate episode, reporter Warner Troyer interviewed Robert Billingsley—President of Reed International, Peter Newberry—a physician who worked on mercury toxicity with Grassy Narrows members, and Marcel Pahpasay—a First Nations fishing guide, whose 3-year-old son Keith was diagnosed with cerebral palsy in spite of symptoms that were identical to children with Minamata disease.
In his book, Troyer said that a "1975 federally commissioned study was suppressed because it found 45 Indians had eyesight problems known as "visual field losses" consistent with mercury poisoning.
[35] In their 1983 report based on a 3-year study, a team of government scientists led by John Rudd, found that the English–Wabigoon River System was "one of the most heavily Hg-contaminated waterways in Canada.
[36]: 79, 80, 95 [37][38] "[M]ethyl-mercury can negatively affect reproduction rates, and behaviour and physical development in fish and fish-eating birds and mammals, including humans".
[5]: 62 [4]: 2207 Walleye is a key traditional species of the Grassy Narrows First Nation and they have fished at "Clay Lake and the river downstream" for many generations.
[35] In March 2003, based on a study of mercury in walleye, northern pike, large-mouth bass, and whitefish, a recommended fish consumption guideline was made and shared with local communities.
"[12]: 622 By 2014, a number of academic publications described the situation in Grassy Meadows as a "local epidemic of Minamata disease...linked to the consumption of fish contaminated by mercury.
Hanada told CBC reporter Jody Porter, that the residents of Grassy Narrows have mercury poisoning and that the Board's "functional assessments" were not a "good measure of who is suffering".
[45] Using statistical data on "violent death, illness, and family breakdown", Anastasia Shkilnyk, the author of Poison Stronger than Love: The Destruction of an Ojibwa Community, traced the history and described the "devastating impacts of mercury contamination on the health and livelihood of the Grassy Narrows".
Da Silva told the committee that Canada had violated their rights by "failing to address mercury pollution in Grassy Narrows".
[28] On June 6, 2016, Grand Chief Fobister led a march with a thousand protestors in downtown Toronto, to "demand a clean up of the mercury poison that has been left in their river for over 50 years".
[45] The study which was funded by the Ontario government, included tests conducted in the summer of 2016, with sediment samples taken from the Wabigoon River "as it passes by the mill, as well as from two lakes upstream of the site.
"[45] The Ministry of the Environment tested the "entire mill site after an environmental group announced it had found high levels of mercury in soil samples".
[38] Canada Research Chair in Environment and Geography at the University of Western Ontario—Brian Branfireun—told Macleans that there are several remediation options depending on the source of the leak.
[2]: e141 In a 4-3 decision on December 6, 2019, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Weyerhaeuser Company and Resolute Forest Products—previously known as Abitibi-Consolidated are responsible for cleaning the mercury-contaminated site near Grassy Narrows First Nation.
According to Global News, the Court decision "brought some clarity to a long-running dispute over one element of the legacy of environmental poisoning that has caused significant health problems for many residents.
