Grassy Narrows Struggles With Effects of Mercury Pollution

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Turtle Island Native Network
http://www.turtleisland.org

June 3rd, 2012

Grassy Narrows mothers are challenging Premier McGuinty to eat their local fish at a traditional fish fry on an open wood fire on the south lawn at Queens Park in Toronto
June 6th, at Noon. (Jamie Kennedy’s Kitchens endorsement)

(Note to Premier McGuinty: Mercury is a potent neurotoxin which accumulates in the food chain and whose health impacts include tunnel vision, loss of coordination, numbness in the extremities, tremors, loss of balance, and speech impediments.)

The people of Grassy Narrows are still suffering from the debilitating health impacts of mercury poison fifty years after a Dryden mill began dumping 10 tonnes of the neurotoxin into Grassy Narrows’ English-Wabigoon River.

Some Grassy Narrows mothers report delayed development, cerebral palsy, seizures, and other illnesses in their children – symptoms linked to congenital mercury poisoning.

Grassy Narrows community members are travelling 2,000 km to Toronto by foot, train, and bus to release a newly translated health study on their community by renowned Japanese mercury expert Dr. Harada.

In April 2010, when Harada’s 2005 report was release in English, Premier McGuinty told reporters that “What we do have is a heavy responsibility to take a good, long, hard look at this new report and find out exactly what the story is.”

In 2006 an independent Grassy Narrows fisherman was convicted in a Kenora court on one count of unlawfully selling fish tainted by mercury contamination, contrary to the Ontario Fish Inspection Act. MNR conservation officers from the Kenora District discovered the nets set in Grassy Narrows Lake, near the community, on Sept. 4, 2005. Forensic tests on the fish, done at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency in Winnipeg, revealed mercury levels of 1.0 parts per million, twice the acceptable level of 0.5 parts per million. (Kenora Daily Miner, 2006)

BACKGROUND
Renowned Japanese mercury expert Dr. Harada first visited the Indigenous communities of Grassy Narrows and Whitedog in 1975. He found people with mercury levels over 3 times the Health Canada limit in Grassy Narrows, and 7 times the limit in Whitedog. When he returned in 2004 he found that 43% of his original Grassy Narrows patients were dead, including all those who had mercury levels above the Health Canada guidelines in 1975.

Between 1962 and 1970 the Dryden mill dumped 10 tonnes of mercury into the Wabigoon River, with the province's permission. The people of Asubpeeschoseewagong (Grassy Narrows), Wabaseemoong (Whitedog), and some members of Wabauskang First Nation who lived at Quibell were downstream and were hurt by the health, social, and economic impacts of this poison. Overnight unemployment in Grassy Narrows skyrocketed, a sacred food staple was lost, and the source of disturbing neurological health conditions became apparent. Mercury levels in Grassy Narrows fish have yet to return to safe levels.

A 2005 study of Grassy Narrows and Whitedog people by Dr. Harada found that Health Canada safety guidelines are too weak to protect people from the cumulative long-term health impacts of low level mercury exposure, which is now ubiquitous worldwide due to industrial pollution from sources such as chemical plants, coal burning power plants, and incinerators.

In 2010 the elderly Dr. Harada returned for his final visit to Grassy Narrows and Whitedog. He examined 160 people of all ages for the health impacts of mercury poisoning, something Health Canada has not done in over a decade. The results of his study give the most current and authoritative scientific assessment of the impacts of mercury on the people of Grassy Narrows and Whitedog.

The report will be released in English for the first time at the press conference on June 4, 2012.

Mercury is a potent neurotoxin which accumulates in the food chain and whose health impacts include tunnel vision, loss of coordination, numbness in the extremities, tremors, loss of balance, and speech impediments.

For more information go to:
FreeGrassy.org
https://www.facebook.com/events/198094780296146/

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Assembly of First Nations National Chief Supports Youth Walkers from Mercury-Impacted
First Nations

OTTAWA, June 5, 2012

Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief Shawn A-in-chut Atleo today expressed support for six First Nations youth who walked from Asubpeeschoseewagong First Nation (Grassy Narrows) to Toronto, a 2,000 kilometer trek. The youth are walking to raise awareness of the mercury poisoning in the English Wabigoon River system in Ontario, caused by the Dryden paper mill in the 1960s. The youth walkers arrive in Toronto today to take part in River Run 2012, a series of events in support of Grassy Narrows.

"It is always inspiring to see our youth taking action to bring attention to a situation that most people either do not know about or have been ignoring for decades," said AFN National Chief Atleo. "These young people are real leaders and we offer our full support to Asubpeeschoseewagong First Nation in their call for a public inquiry into the ongoing health impacts of mercury poisoning as well as their call for environmental monitoring and the establishment of a permanent environmental center."

In 1970, the Ontario government banned fishing in the English Wabigoon River system due to high levels of mercury in the fish and the water. Without being allowed to fish, the people of Grassy Narrows First Nation immediately lost a major source of income and sustenance.

This type of mercury poisoning is called Minamata Disease, named for an outbreak in Minamata, Japan in the 1950s. In Asubpeeschoseewagong First Nation, Minamata Disease, Minamata Disease with complications or possible Minamata disease have been diagnosed following the contamination of the river by mercury and again in recent years by Dr. Masazumi Harada from Japan, an expert in the field of mercury poisoning. The Mercury Disability Board, set up by the Governments of Canada and Ontario, does not currently recognize all individuals who continue to suffer the effects of mercury poisoning.

"Both the federal and provincial governments need to recognize and effectively address the lasting issue of mercury exposure in First Nation communities along the English Wabigoon River system," said National Chief Atleo. "The action by these youth walkers must lead to a real commitment from governments. First Nations across the country stand in support of these youth and the people of all affected communities."

Recent studies have shown that the mercury poisoning, first identified over 40 years ago, continues to affect the people of Grassy Narrows. Furthermore, clear-cut logging in Grassy Narrows' territory over the past few years is also believed to be a contributing factor. The Government of Ontario has recently released plans for further clear-cut logging in the territory.

On July 20th 2010, the AFN Annual General Assembly passed a resolution reaffirming the AFN's support of Grassy Narrows and other mercury impacted communities.

More information about the youth walkers and River Run 2012 can be found at: http://peaceculture.org/drupal/node/900.

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March and rally demanding justice for First Nations affected by mercury poisoning and industrial logging activity. . .

CUPE Ontario joins Grassy Narrows First Nation to create "river" to Queen's Park

TORONTO, ONTARIO

June 7, 2012

Leaders and members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Ontario will join with the Grassy Narrows First Nation tomorrow to create a "wild river" of blue fabric rippling to Queen's Park.

The marchers will unfurl 15,000 square feet of blue fabric and flow to the provincial capital along with traditional drummers and colourful fish puppets. The group is raising awareness about chemical dumping and mercury poisoning of the English River System caused by government and corporations over several decades.

Mercury poisoning from industrial logging at the Dryden Paper Mill in the 1960s is having serious effects on adults and children in Grassy Narrows, Wabauskang and White Dog First Nations.

"For decades, we've been told these activities are essential to our economy. But they haven't benefited the First Nations communities," says Joanne Webb, CUPE Ontario's Diversity Vice-President, Aboriginal Workers. "I'm proud to stand here today with the rest of my union's Aboriginal Council and our provincial leaders to demand the justice that is so long overdue."

WHO: Grassy Narrows mothers, Chief Simon Fobister (Grassy Narrows First Nation), Joanne Webb (Diversity Vice-President, Aboriginal Workers, CUPE Ontario), Bruce Cox (Executive Director, Greenpeace Canada), Maryam Adrangi (Energy and Climate Justice Campaigner, Council of Canadians) and other speakers

WHAT: March and rally demanding justice for First Nations affected by mercury poisoning and industrial logging activity

WHEN: Begins at Grange Park (behind Art Gallery of Ontario) at noon, march arrives at Queen's Park at 1:15 p.m., Friday, June 8

CUPE Ontario is the province's largest union. It represents more than 230,000 workers in five main sectors: health care, school boards, municipalities, social services and universities.

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Research shows severe mercury poisoning still plagues First Nations
in Northwestern Ontario . . .

June 2012
http://www.myhealthreference.com/article/news-3927

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Grassy Narrows needs justice
SOURCE: Council of Canadians
Maude Barlow,
Alex Neve,
Angus Toulouse
The Ottawa Citizen
June 11, 2012

Mercury contamination is a human-rights issue, write Alex Neve, Maude Barlow and Angus Toulouse.

It has been called one of the worst environmental disasters in Canadian history. Between 1962 and 1970, a pulp and paper mill in Dryden, Ont., released more than nine metric tons of untreated inorganic mercury into the English and Wabigoon rivers in northwestern Ontario. The poisoning of the rivers had a devastating impact on the First Nations who lived off these rivers and lakes. Fifty years after it began, these same communities are still paying the price.

Before this environmental disaster, the rivers and lakes were a source of both food and jobs for the people of Asubpeeschoseewagong (Grassy Narrows) and Wabaseemoong (White Dog) First Nations, and members of Wabauskang First Nations, with community members working as guides or as staff in commercial fishing lodges. When the mercury dumping was discovered, the commercial fishery was closed, cutting the people off from their most important source of income. By then, many of the residents had elevated levels of mercury in their bodies and were exhibiting signs of the neurological degeneration associated with mercury poisoning.

It took more than a decade for government to provide any compensation for Grassy Narrows and Wabaseemoong. The limited compensation that was established was based on assurances that the mercury contamination would not last and that life would soon return to normal. These assurances have proven false.

Elevated levels of mercury continue to be found in river and lake sediment, in fish, and in animals higher up the food chain. And the people of Grassy Narrows and Wabaseemoong continue to experience shockingly high incidence of serious health problems, including large numbers of children born with developmental disabilities, deterioration of motor control, memory loss, speech impairment, and diminishing eyesight — all of which are associated with mercury poisoning.

The federal government has denied that there is any connection between the health crisis in Grassy Narrows and the contamination of their waters. However, Health Canada long ago stopped monitoring the human health impact of the mercury contamination. Furthermore, studies by a team of “Minamata disease” or mercury poisoning specialists from Japan have called into question federal guidelines on safe levels of mercury exposure. In a study released in 2010, Dr. Masazumi Harada and his colleagues diagnosed 139 people in Grassy Narrows and Wabaseemoong as having, or as likely having, a chronic form of Minamata disease. They also found conclusive or probable symptoms of mercury poisoning in almost 90 of the residents who, when first examined in 1975, had blood mercury levels that were deemed safe according to federal guidelines. Their latest study reveals that First Nations youth born long after the mercury dumping was halted are now exhibiting symptoms of mercury poisoning.

In 2010, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty acknowledged that he had a “heavy responsibility” to address the concerns raised by these mercury studies. Two years later, there is no sign that the premier has acted on this responsibility.

This week, youth from Grassy Narrows arrived in Toronto after walking some 2,000 kilometres across Ontario to draw public attention to the plight of their community. They are part of a broader effort by their community to draw attention to the need to address the legacy of mercury contamination once and for all.

This is not the first time that the people of Grassy Narrows have appealed for justice. After the discovery of the mercury dumping, the people of Grassy Narrows tried to negotiate redress in the form of greater control over the management of the natural resources of their territory. The province refused and instead compounded the impact through a massive expansion of industrial logging in the region. The people of Grassy Narrows believe that large-scale clear cut logging — which has been linked to increased mercury run-off into rivers and streams — is a key factor in the persistent contamination of their territory.

Today, the people of Grassy Narrows are calling for ongoing, community-run monitoring of their waters. And they want the province to commit to respect their rights as indigenous peoples to live on their land and to be able to say no to the ravages of industrial clear-cut logging.

The province should listen. Clean water and a safe, healthy environment are basic human rights. Essential in and of themselves, these rights are also indispensable to health, livelihood and, in the case of indigenous peoples like the Grassy Narrows and Wabaseemoong First Nations, the preservation of culture and ways of life. International human rights standards clearly establish that these rights should be freely enjoyed by everyone, without discrimination. After 50 years of devastating contamination of their waters, the people of Grassy Narrows are owed a debt of justice. It is the premier’s responsibility to ensure that their rights are finally respected and upheld.

Alex Neve, secretary general, Amnesty International Canada and Maude Barlow, national chairperson, Council of Canadians and regional chief Angus Toulouse, Chiefs of Ontario.

SOURCE: Council of Canadians