The Chief of Grassy Narrows First Nation is disappointed that this year’s provincial budget did not set aside funds to clean up mercury in the river near his home.

“This budget leaves the future of my people in doubt,” said Chief Simon Fobister, who since February has sent three letters to Premier Kathleen Wynne asking her to secure the funding in the $150-billion budget.

“There is nothing in here for cleaning the river that is our life blood, and nothing for the healing of our people,” said Fobister.

In response to the Chief’s concerns, a spokesperson for the provincial ministry of the environment said the government is “immediately” giving $2.1 million to fund pre clean-up studies.

“This is a significant next step towards accelerating ongoing fieldwork and moving forward with the remediation action plan,” said spokesperson Gary Wheeler.

The $2.1 million is far short of what scientists say it would cost to clean up the river over years.

At the end of March, the chief scientist for Grassy Narrows, John Rudd — who initially recommended a cleanup of the mercury in the 1980s — pegged the costs of cleaning up the mercury over ten years at $85.7 million.

The goal of Rudd’s 10-year plan is to bring mercury levels in the Wabigoon river walleye down to a level where it would be safe for subsistence fishers.

The three-part plan will work to shut-off any ongoing mercury sources from the mill or surrounding areas, add clay and oxygen or nitrogen to the river to speed up natural recovery and monitor the area long-term.

In a March 29 letter to Wynne, Grassy Narrows Chief and Council asked the premier to implement Rudd’s plan “without delay” and requested funds for the entire decade-long cleanup be included in the budget, with money for future years’ work to be placed in a trust.

Chief Fobister said he wrote his letters to Wynne in an attempt to lock up significant clean-up funding before the next election.

“This is her last budget. What if they won’t get re-relected? Is the next government going to do the clean-up? There’s no guarantee. She’s not setting up the next government to meet that commitment.”

“It is disappointing,” said Rudd on Friday. His team is going to start studying and sampling sediment in the waters near Grassy Narrows next week.

“I hope it’s not déjà vu all over again. We did a great study in the 1980s and it was put on the shelf.”

An engineering firm was to start work soon on designing the river cleanup methods, Rudd said, but the $2.1 million, “would not even get the engineering firm started.”

“Having the engineering design phase begin now would be a tangible sign that remediation is beginning, and we are not just describing and defining the problem.”

Rudd, who met with Wynne in February, said the premier was, “very committed and quite definitive” about the provincial commitment to deal with the mercury problem.

“I still take her at her word. She said she was committed to do this cleanup and she wanted to get it underway before the next election.”

Environment critic Peter Tabuns said he was “shocked” that the money to clean up the mercury was not in the budget, released Thursday.

“It is clear now that the Liberals are just stalling. They want to get to the election without having to clean up the mercury contamination,” said Tabuns.

Between 1962 and 1970, the Dryden paper plant, then owned by Reed Paper, dumped 10 tonnes of mercury into the Wabigoon River, upstream from Grassy Narrows. The site of the plant is about 100 kilometres upstream from Grassy Narrows and nearby Whitedog.

The government of the day chose to let the river clean itself naturally, but over the last year, an ongoing Star investigation has found high mercury levels in fish, soil dug up behind the factory and river sediment. The three findings suggest there is likely an ongoing mercury source and the mill property is it, or located near it.

Physical symptoms of mercury poisoning include loss of muscle co-ordination and tunnel vision. Fetuses are particularly vulnerable to cognitive damage, according to recent research. A recent study done by Japanese experts concluded that 90 per cent of people tested in Grassy Narrows and nearby White Dog have a symptom of mercury poisoning.

In February, the province “completely committed” to finding areas near Grassy Narrows contaminated with mercury and creating a plan to clean it up.

“I think all of us in this House wish we had behaved differently over the last 50 years. I don’t think anyone has clean hands here,” said environment minister Glen Murray, speaking about government inaction on the mercury issue, in the legislature last month.

The federal government is working with First Nations and the province on renewing the Mercury Disability Board, which was set up in the 1980s and offers compensation to people who have mercury-poisoning symptoms.