Mercury contamination in Grassy Narrows

Mercury contamination in Grassy Narrows, Ontario, Canada continues to pose a threat to both the environment and human health in the ecosystem in Northwestern Ontario near the Manitoba border. The Dryden Chemical Company, a chloralkali plant associated with the nearby Dryden Pulp and Paper Company—both subsidiaries of the British multinational, Reed International—discharged approximately 10,000 kilograms (22,000 lb) of mercury Hg into the Wabigoon River river between 1962 and 1970. The Wabigoon River joins the English River at Ball Lake. The Wabigoon-English river system flows west to Manitoba, joins the Winnipeg River and eventually flows into Lake Winnipeg. The paper mill is in Dryden, on Wabigoon Lake—the headwater of the Wabigoon River. The closest reserve to the paper mill is Grassy Narrows reserve, which is less than 100 km downstream from Dryden and the mill. The Whitedog reserve is several hundred kilometres further downstream. Both First Nations communities were severely affected. For generations, many suffered with symptoms of mercury poisoning, including Minamata disease. Since the mercury poisoning, the [[Grassy Narrows] community "have lived with the consequences of one of the worst cases of environmental poisoning in Canadian history."

Overview

From 1962 to 1970, the Dryden Chemical Company's chloralkali plant, which was associated with the nearby Dryden Pulp and Paper Company—both subsidiaries of the British multinational, Reed International, discharged approximately 10,000 kilograms (22,000 lb) of mercury Hg into the Wabigoon-English river systems. The Dryden pulp-and-paper operations were located on the shores of the Wabigoon River near Wabigoon Lake, the river's headwater, discharged approximately 10,000 kilograms (22,000 lb) of mercury Hg into the Wabigoon-English river systems.

In the 1970s, the Medical Service Branch of Health Canada—the agency responsible for Canada's national health policy—undertook yearly biomarker testing of blood and hair for Hg of all 657 Registered members of the Grassy Narrows First Nation. This study was part of a larger study of First Nations and Inuit who continued to live a traditional traditional subsistence lifestyle by hunting, fishing and gathering. This placed them at higher potential risk of exposure "contaminants, such as methylmercury MeHg, which bioaccumulate in aquatic ecosystems."

The Wabigoon-English river systems flow west to Manitoba, joining the joining the Winnipeg River and eventually Lake Winnipeg. The paper mill is in Dryden, on Wabigoon Lake—the headwater of the Wabigoon River, which is joined by the English River at Ball Lake.The closest reserve to the paper mill is Grassy Narrows reserve, which is less than 100 kilometres (62 mi) downstream of Dryden and the mill. The Whitedog reserve is several hundred kilometres further downstream. Both First Nations communities were severely affected. For generations many suffered from mercury poisoning, including Minamata disease—a neurological syndrome caused by severe mercury poisoning.

Generations of Grassy Lakes continue to suffer from the physical, social, and economic costs of the discharge of approximately ten tons of mercury into the Wabigoon River between 1962 and 1970 by the Dryden pulp and paper mill, 100 kilometres (62 mi) upstream of Grassy Narrows, poisoning the water and the fish—the staple food of the Grassy Narrows First Nations. It is "one of Canada's worst environmental disasters".

In a January 1, 1978 article entitled "Mercury contamination: A human tragedy", published in Environmental Management co-authors Patricia A. D'ltri and Frank M. D'ltri said that the Dryden Chemical Company began operating a chloralkali process plant in Dryden, Ontario in 1962 using mercury cells. They reported on First Nations community members, who lived downstream from the Dryden paper mill with Minamata disease—had severe mercury poisoning. The disease was named after the fishing community of Minamata, Japan, that was "ravaged by the effects of methylmercury poisoning]". It produced sodium hydroxide and chlorine that were used in large amounts for bleaching paper during production by the Dryden Pulp and Paper Company.

In 1970, extensive mercury contamination was discovered in this river system, leading to closure of the commercial fishery and some tourism related businesses. McDonald said that, the Ontario provincial government—under the leadership of then Premier John Robarts (1917–1982) whose term lasted from November 8, 1961 to March 1, 1971—served Dryden Chemical Company with an ordinance on March 26, 1970 "ordering the company to cease dumping mercury into the English-Wabigoon river system".

Dryden, where the milll is located is on Wabigoon Lake—the headwater of the Wabigoon River, which is joined by the English River at Ball Lake. The Wabigoon-English river systems flow west to the Winnipeg River to Lake Winnipeg. The Grassy Narrows reserve is located 100 km downstream of Dryden and the mill and several hundred kilometres upstream of the Wabaseemong reserve.

Methylmercury—which is extremely toxic and bioaccumulative is metabolized by bacteria from a combination of water and inorganic mercury. Animals at the bottom of the food chain, such as small fish eat the methyl-mercury which can never be dissolved. Larger fish such as walleye, northern pike, large-mouth bass, and whitefish accumulate more methyl-mercury by eating smaller fish. The methyl-mercury accumulates in the body over a lifetime, creating a devastating situation for the Grassy Narrows and White Dog depend on these larger, older fish and wild game in the ecosystem for sustenance, according to a 2017 report, "Good Choices, Bad Choices: Environmental Rights and Environment Protection in Ontario", by Diane Saxe, the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario. Saxe said that "methyl-mercury can negatively affect reproduction rates, and behaviour and physical development in fish and fish-eating birds and mammals, including humans". Her report said that more than 58% of the "Grassy Narrows and Wabaseemoong community members have been diagnosed with—or are suspected of having—Minamata disease.

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. It was recommended that members eat shorter, younger fish. Whitefish was recommended over walleye, pike and bass. "Unfortunately, many fishers show a preference for longer fish, as they provide more edible flesh and a greater “trophy” value."

In July 2015, a then 65-year old Albertan, wrote to the Chief of Grassy Narrows, saying that, in 1972, when he was 21 years old, he had worked for the Dryden paper mill. As part of his job he shovelled mercury into drums. He and others in a "small crew" had "dumped approximately 50 drums containing liquid mercury and salt—industrial waste from the mill—into a large pit upstream of Grassy Narrows".

Since the 1985 ordinance only mentioned direct dumping into the river, airborne mercury emissions continued until October 1975. Dryden Chemical ceased operations in 1976.

In 1975, Dr. Masazumi Harada tested mercury levels in Grassy Meadows community members and found that they were "more than three times the Health Canada limit in Grassy Narrows and seven times the limit in nearby Whitedog". Harada returned to do more testing 2004, and found that "all of the people who had tested over the limit were dead." 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. The Center for Minamata Studies in Japan continued to chronicle minamata disease at Grassy Narrows for decades. According to the New York Times, the centres director, Masanori Hanada, could not understand why the thirty years later in 2014, an estimated 90% of Grassy Narrows residents, including newborns, had "symptoms of mercury poisoning", which included "numbness in the extremities, tremors, memory loss, tunnel vision, birth defects."

On March 26, 1982, Canada contributed $2.2 million to Wabaseemoong for economic development, social and educational programs. Wabaseemoong also signed a settlement with Ontario in January 1983. On July 27, 1984, Canada contributed $4.4 million to Grassy Narrows for economic development and social service development/planning.

In 1984, the environment minister at that time, said that the river was cleaning itself, and there was no need for government intervention.

In 1985, the Reed Paper Company that bought-out the Dryden Pulp and Paper Company and its sister-company Dryden Chemical Company, Great Lakes Forest Products, the governments of Canada and Ontario provided approximately $17 million compensation to the Grassy Narrows and Wabaseemoong First Nations as part of a legal settlement " for the health effects of mercury in their communities. In 1985, the province of Ontario granted the "Dryden mill and any future owners a broad indemnity, assuming all environmental liabilities related to the mill and its mercury dumping."

According to the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs (INAC) Ontario Region Communications , a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) reached in 1985 between the federal government, the Ontario government, Reed Limited, and Great Lakes Forest Products Ltd. resulted in a one-time compensation payment of $16.67 million with the federal government contributing $2 million, the Ontario government paying . Through the 1986 "Grassy Narrows and Islington Indian Bands Mercury Pollution Claims Settlement Act". Through this claims settlement, the Kenora, Ontario-based Mercury Disability Fund (MDF) and the Mercury Disability Board. The Government of Ontario held $2 million of this settlement in a trust fund which the province is "responsible for replenishing when the balance drops below $100,000.

Elder Bill Fobister, speaking at a protest at Queen's Park in Toronto

In September 2014, a team from Japan's Center for Minamata Studies including Masanori Hanada, director of the Centre, spent two weeks in Grassy Narrows following up on their studies that began in the 1970s. Hanada met with community members and Margaret Wanlin, who was the chairperson of the Kenora, Ontario based Mercury Disability Board. Wanlin said that since 1986 the Board has "distributed $17 million dollars in disability pensions" which represents an average payment of $400 per month. Wanlin told CBC that only 243 of the 910 people who have applied for Mercury Disability Board were accepted by the board. 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".

In July 2015, when the former mill worker had come forward with the information about burying 50 barrels of mercury upstream of Grassy Meadows, some scientists believe this might explain why community members including newborns, have symptoms of mercury poisoning decades after the initial dumping of mercury in the waterways. The Ministry of the Environment undertook geophysical testing following this report but found no barrels.

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".

The Minamata Convention on Mercury in 2016—the sixtieth anniversary of the discovery of the disease, by the same name—announced the signing of the "international treaty designed to protect human health and the environment from anthropogenic releases and emission of mercury and mercury compounds" on April 22, 2016—Earth Day. In 2016 and 2017, there was wide coverage of the mercury contamination of the river ways, including in-depth coverage by Toronto Star journalists Jayme Poisson and David Bruser. Poisson and Bruser reported that the government of Ontario had known about the mercury contamination for decades but did nothing. CBC published an interactive article by Jody Porter called "Children of the poisoned river." Porter called the contamination, "one of Canada's worst environmental disasters".

A 2016 confidential report by an environmental consulting firm, commissioned by Domtar—who have owned and operated the Dryden pulp and paper mill since 2007—revealed that Ontario provincial authorities "knew decades ago that the site of the mill was contaminated with mercury," according to a 2017 article in the Star. The report included archival reports from the mill which showed that ground water samples collected by the company over many years had "extremely high mercury levels". In February 2016, Ontario's Ministry of the Environment said that there was no need for remediation other than natural sedimentation. In 2015, a former mill employee reported that when he worked for the mill in the early 1970s, and had been "part of a group who 'haphazardly' dumped drums filled with salt and mercury into a pit behind the mill".

In February 2017, five mercury experts—including John Rudd—submitted their report, which had been commissioned by the Grassy Narrows community which "suggests there is ongoing mercury contamination" from the Dryden mill—"decommissioned decades ago". 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." Rudd told Macleans that the "mercury levels downstream of the plant should have returned to normal by now in the absence of leaks, but the tests show significantly higher levels downstream of the plant compared with upstream locations — roughly 130 times higher." 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".

In the summer of 2017, the government of Ontario committed $85 million to cleaning up of the Wabigoon River/English River systems, and early preparation work was completed.

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. If it is through groundwater, they could use a "pump-and-treat remediation, in which tainted water is captured in wells before it can reach the river and sent for treatment." If "the source is old sediment eroding from near the mill site, then the removal of that contaminated sediment could be the solution".Experimental Lakes Area researchers are concerned that a disturbance of sediment containing mercury, might inadvertently redistribute the mercury "in the ecosystem."

In her 2017 report, "Good Choices, Bad Choices: Environmental Rights and Environment Protection in Ontario", Diane Saxe, the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario, said that the effects of mercury poisoning on Grassy Narrows and Whitedog community members are "devastating" and that, "after more than 60 years, the problem is getting worse, not better."

The Grassy Narrows community was under a long-term drinking water advisory from about 2013 through October 2020, when it was lifted.

In 2019, Grassy Narrows had obtained their historical Hg biomarker data from a surveillance programme undertaken by the government, which collected data measuring yearly Hg concentrations in hair samples from 657 community members between January 1, 1970 and January 31, 1997.

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."

In the spring of 2020 the Government of Canada reached an agreement with Grassy Narrows to "build a $20 million clinic for those suffering from mercury poisoning".

In 2020, a team of researchers funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research reported on their retrospective longitudinal study of mercury exposure individuals of the Grassy Narrows First Nation community.

See also

• Mercury in fish
• Mercury contamination in California waterways
• Methylmercury
• Mercury poisoning
• Mercury (element)
• Long-term Drinking Water Advisories (DWA)s (Canada)

Further reading

• Harada, Masazumi et al., Mercury Poisoning in First Nations Groups in Ontario, Canada: 35 Years of Minamata Disease in Canada, 3 J. Minamata Studies 3 (2011)Google Scholar; Andrew Chapeskie et al., Passing on Ojibway Lifeways in a Contemporary Environment, Paper Presented at the 7th Annual Conference of the International Association for the Study of Common Property, Vancouver, B.C. (June 10-14, 1998)
• "Mercury Poisoning Effects Continue at Grassy Narrows." CBC News Canada (June 4, 2012)
• Anna J. Willow, Strong Hearts, Native Lands: The Cultural and Political Landscape of Anishinaabe Anti-Clearcutting Activism 75 (2012).
• Mosa, Adam; Duffin, Jacalyn (2017-02-06). "The interwoven history of mercury poisoning in Ontario and Japan". CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association Journal. 189 (5): –213-E215. doi:10.1503/cmaj.160943. ISSN 0820-3946. PMC 5289874. PMID 27920011. Retrieved 2021-03-06.