Getting the mercury out of the water at Grassy Narrows
The paper mill at Dryden, Ont., shut down years ago, but when it was operating, it dumped about 9,000 kilograms of mercury into the downstream waters. Those chemicals are still out there, and still poisoning people and fish, in and around the Grassy Narrows First Nation and other nearby communities to this day.
One hypothesis is that those old emissions accumulated in one place, with that site continuing to steadily leach the deadly substance. If that’s correct, then finding and removing the source may be the best remedy.
Ontario government scientists have favoured a treatment known as “resuspension.” Instead of removing the mercury source, clean sediment is put into the water and settles to the bottom, in an attempt to stabilize mercury-contaminated sediment.
Last week, David Schindler, an eminent ecologist, and Dr. David Suzuki, wrote to Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, arguing that removing the mercury source would not be dangerous. “This fear is needless,” Dr. Schindler said. “If the river system remains in its current state, we anticipate a continued degradation of the health and social fabric of the Grassy Narrows community.”
Dr. Schindler praised the efforts of government scientists who have been working on the Grassy Narrows predicament – but suggested that the current approach to dealing with mercury poisoning is overcautious.
This is a complicated issue, which is why reasonable people disagree on how best to fix it. But given the exceptionally high levels of mercury in the area’s fish, what’s clear is that this long-standing environmental crisis is still very much not fixed. That’s why the Ontario government should seriously consider Dr. Schindler’s proposal. Grassy Narrows is a health disaster that must be addressed.