Environmental group finds mercury in soil upstream from Grassy Narrows community – CP
TORONTO – An environmental group believes it may have found a source of ongoing mercury contamination that has plagued a northern Ontario First Nation for more than 50 years.
The Grassy Narrows community, near the Manitoba border, has dealt with mercury poisoning since a paper mill in Dryden, Ont., dumped 9,000 kilograms of the substance into the Wabigoon and English River systems during the 1960s.
But mercury concentrations haven’t decreased in 30 years and dangerous levels are still present in sediment and fish, causing ongoing devastating health and economic impacts in the community. Researchers have reported that more than 90 per cent of the people in Grassy Narrows and the Wabaseemoong (White Dog) First Nation show signs of mercury poisoning.
A former worker at the Dryden mill came forward last year saying he had buried more than 50 barrels of mercury and salt in a pit in 1972.
Ministry of the Environment officials did geophysical testing, but found no barrels.
