Grassy Narrows and Islington Indian Bands Mercury Pollution Claims Settlement Act

Background

The Anishinaabe community of Asupeeschoseewagong First Nation (Grassy Narrows) has a registered population of approximately 1,511 members, 951 who live on-reserve. Located along the Wabigoon-English River, this Ojibway First Nation falls under Treaty 3 territory. When Treaty 3 was signed in 1873, it included provisions for community members to hunt, fish and trap on land that now fell under Crown control. Land is an integral component of the Ojibway culture and the treaty allowed for the cycle of seasonal activities and traditional practices to continue on the land, regardless of ownership.

Between 1962 and 1970 a chemical plant operated by Reed Paper Ltd (as part of its pulp and paper operations at Dryden) located approximately 100 km upstream from the reserve, began leaking mercury (a toxic chemical) into the Wabigoon-English River. By 1970 approximately 10 tonnes of mercury had contaminated the river.

Although the plant had stopped using mercury in its processes by 1975, the Wabigoon-English river remained one of the most heavily mercury contaminated waterways in the world. Fish (Walleye, Northern Pike and Lake Whitefish) continued to have extremely elevated mercury levels, even with the passage of time indicating methylmercury was still leeching into the river. Scientific studies have shown that over time mercury concentrations in water species will significantly decline, however in the Wabigoon-English river rates of decline were slowing down and leveling off.

Impact

The consequences of the contaminated water system have created severe hardship in the Grassy Narrows community, impacting community health and well-being, negative impact on practicing traditional cultural practices like hunting and fishing, environmental destruction, and economic hardship. 

A team of Japanese experts in mercury poisoning released a report on the situation. It found that fewer than 30% of Grassy Narrows and Wasaseemoong First Nations people who apply to the Mercury Disability Board met the criteria for a pension through the agreement, while approximately 90% of the population displayed symptoms of mercury poisoning.

The fish and bird population were contaminated with mercury and the otter and mink populations declined until they completely disappeared.

The commercial fishery that was the foundation of the economy closed, as did other tourist-based businesses. Unemployment rates rose and despite the fact that traditional food sources were unsafe for human consumption, increasing levels of poverty meant that residents had to rely on fish as a dietary staple. Incidents of Minamata (a neurological syndrome caused by severe mercury poisoning) rose and Grassy Narrows residents began to organize and protest the environmental conditions in their traditional lands. Since then International groups have challenged Canada's record in responding to the mercury pollution, both in terms of cleaning up the river system and fairly compensating those impacted.

A former employee of the Dryden pulp and paper mill, Kas Glowacki, came forward in August 2016 and contacted the Ontario government of former dumping practices of the company. In the 1970s, as part of his job, Glowacki would transport barrels containing mercury to a remote forested area and bury them. (See this article from the Toronto Star.) The Ontario government looked into his claims and said they could not find the site. The environmental group Earthroots took Glowacki’s claim seriously, and tested soil upstream from Grassy Narrows. They found the test sites contained extremely high levels of mercury.

The Settlement

In 1977 Grassy Narrows and Wabaseemoong First Nations began legal actions against Dryden Paper and Reed limited. 

At the root of the issue is the differing views of the land. The government and capitalist industry viewed it as a resource to be utilized at any cost, without serious consideration of the long-term ramifications. Grassy Narrow residents view the same land as part of their cultural identity and frame everything with the question of how can I do this to the earth without destroying it? 

Grassy Narrows and Islington Indian Bands Mercury Pollution Claims Settlement Act (S.C. 1986, c. 23) came into effect June 17, 1986.

The Act is a mechanism intended to enforce the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the provincial and federal government, Great lakes Forest Products Ltd, the Islington Indian Band and the Grassy Narrows Indian Band. The MOU is a settlement agreement that outlines the parameters for all claims (past, present and future) arising from the mercury and other pollutants discharged into the Wabigoon-English river by Reed Inc. and its predecessors.

A Mercury Disability Fund was created and the MOU outlined the responsibilities for maintaining this fund. Ontario is responsible for ensuring that the fund does not go below $100,000. The Mercury Disability Board was created to administer the fund and ruled on compensation applications. A grading system was created to determine if and how much claimants could get in compensation. The problem with this compensation is that it has not increased with inflation in 30 years, meaning that while claimants now receive between $250-800, the Bank of Canada inflation calculator shows that the 2017 amounts should range from $499.62-1,598.77.

Furthermore, experts in mercury poisoning have pointed out that the mechanism for assessment that the province uses, called a “functional assessment,” is not a good measure for the total impact that mercury poisoning has on individuals. There are so-called “hidden effects” of mercury poisoning, including raised rates of miscarriage and lower resistance to alcohol and infections.

English-Wabigoon River System Cleanup

In February 2017, then-Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Glen Murray and Minister Zimmer announced that they would take action of mercury contamination in the English Wabigoon River system  On June 28, 2017, Glen Murray announced they would make good on this commitment with an additional $85 million for mercury cleanup.

https://news.ontario.ca/ene/en/2017/6/statement-from-the-minister-of-the-environment-and-climate-change-on-ontarios-investment-of-an-addit.html