No firm plan to get mercury out of river near northern Ontario First Nation
TORONTO — Ontario’s Liberal government insists it is “totally committed” to cleaning up mercury in a river near a northern First Nation, but says it will not do anything that could make the situation worse for residents of Grassy Narrows.
The remote 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.
Mercury concentrations haven’t decreased in 30 years. It is still present in dangerous levels in sediment and in fish, causing ongoing devastating health and economic impacts in the community.
Ontario Environment Minister Glen Murray said Wednesday that the government would make sure the cleanup of mercury in the Wabigoon River was done “to the satisfaction of the chief and the health of the people of Grassy Narrows.”