Study claims mercury still leaking from mill near Grassy Narrows : chief
TORONTO — A northwestern Ontario First Nation plagued with mercury poisoning for more than 50 years said Tuesday it has evidence that toxic material is still leaking from an upstream paper mill.
A new report commissioned by the Grassy Narrows community and funded by the government of Ontario suggests there is ongoing mercury contamination from the Dryden, Ont., mill which was decommissioned decades ago.
The report, authored by five mercury experts and released Tuesday, lays out the results of tests conducted last summer on mud samples from the bottom of the Wabigoon River as it passes by the mill, as well as from two lakes upstream of the site.
John Rudd, one of the study’s authors, said that mercury levels downstream of the plant should have returned to normal by now in the absence of leaks, but the tests show significantly higher levels downstream of the plant compared with upstream locations — roughly 130 times higher.