How an Ontario paper mill poisoned nearby First Nations

https://www.nationalobserver.com/2021/09/01/how-ontario-paper-mill-poisoned-nearby-first-nations

This is Part 1 of a three-part series called Gigoo-Aakoosi: Fish Is Sick.

Ontario government officials had concerns about “gross” pollution levels, caused by a mill in Dryden, entering the English-Wabigoon river system. Based on a 1969 report, the province had worries not only about the level of pollution but waste from the pulp and paper mill entering the river since it opened in 1913.

In 1970, the contamination became public knowledge.

That report, uncovered by a national investigation into water issues in Indigenous communities, cites disturbing levels of pollution in the Wabigoon River, the disappearance of fish downstream from the Dryden mill, sludge bank formations, surface water discolouration and offensive odours.

While the Ontario government quietly investigated the Wabigoon River, the 1969 report by what was then called the Ontario Water Resources Commission — now part of the province’s Environment Ministry — seemed more concerned about the impact the pollution in the river would have on the tourism industry than the health of the people living nearby. It highlighted the sector’s economic importance and how the water quality greatly impacted locations accessible to the general public.

The conclusion was clear. Since the Wabigoon River was first polluted by Dryden’s pulp mill waste as far back as 1913, it noted that “pollution has been a continuous source of concern for area residents, government agencies and conservationists.”

‘They didn’t care’

The extent of the pollution’s history came as a shock to many residents.

“They didn’t care,” Betty Riffel said about the Ontario government.

“I always thought that there was something there,” said the 82-year-old elder of Wabauskang First Nation about the water in Quibell, Ont., where her family lived from the mid-1930s to the early 1960s.

The elders always suspected the pollution was worse than government officials were letting on.

Riffel and the other elders talked about water contamination from decades earlier, pointing to the increasing illnesses and deaths, including the strange occurrences seen in the local animals and fish.

Known as Dryden Timber and Power Company, the kraft pulp and paper mill opened for business in 1913. With that came a manifold of toxic chemicals and debris entering the English-Wabigoon river system.

But it wasn’t until decades later that many Canadians became aware of the infamous mercury dump into the English-Wabigoon river system during the early 1960s to 1970 by Dryden Chemicals Limited. It caused an environmental disaster for Asubpeeschoseewagong and Wabaseemoong, formerly known as Whitedog First Nation, which is still under a long-term boil water advisory.

The Ontario government formally announced the mercury contamination in 1970. But concerns about the Wabigoon River actually date back nearly a century ago.

Over the decades, an array of toxins were dumped, including bleaching waste that produces phenolspolychlorinated dibenzodioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), also known as dioxins and furans, to pulp and sanitary waste. Many of them are highly toxic, even fatal. Such chemicals cause severe to long‐term reproductive and developmental problems, damage to the immune system, interference with hormones and cancer.

According to Miriam Diamond, an earth sciences professor at the University of Toronto, toxic and fatal contaminants were in use during the early 20th century as the pulp and paper industry boomed in Canada.

Ingrid Waldron adds a troubled perspective to this history. The associate professor at Dalhousie University, whose research topics include health inequalities, says Indigenous communities near the Dryden mill experienced environmental racism, the well-documented suffering Indigenous, Black and racialized communities have endured at the hands of polluting industries.

Waldron is part of an effort to address the concerns raised by environmental racism through a private member’s bill.