Had he gotten cold feet? Correction – June 5, 2017: This article was edited from a previous version that misspelled Kas Glowacki’s surname in one instance. The Asubpeeschoseewagong Netum Anishinabek (Grassy Narrows First Nation) people have lived with the consequences of one of the worst cases of environmental poisoning in Canadian history. Judy is 55 years old, mother to five children, and a resident of Grassy Narrows in Ontario, Canada.She and the other First Nations people have built their way of life around the Wabigoon River, a breathtaking body of water which sweeps through the forested hills surrounding the Grassy Narrows reservation. Soil samples that showed hundreds of times the mercury level of a nearby uncontaminated site were taken from an area behind the Dryden paper mill where former mill worker Kas Glowacki said he buried 50 barrels of mercury and salt in 1972. So have many in Wabaseemoong Independent Nations, also known as Whitedog First Nation, about 130 kilometres away. Rudy Turtle, chief of the Grassy Narrows First Nation in northwestern Ontario, is seen here on the reserve on Friday, May 18, 2018. That next day in Medicine Hat, at Glowacki’s bungalow, we weren’t sure what to expect. David and I tried for weeks to reach Glowacki from Toronto by email. Yet another recent scientific report on the issue has cautioned that mercury levels in fish â a main food staple for the two communities â and sediment in the area are still dangerously high. READ MORE: The day ended up being one bust after another. Decades of promises, but little action as mercury still takes lives in Grassy Narrows Apr 03, 2019 Itâs been half a century since a pulp and paper mill in Dryden, Ont. Victory for the Grassy Narrows First Nation and surrounding communities has finally come after struggling for years to get the Ontario government to remove the mercury that has been poisoning the land and water for generations. The potent neurotoxin contaminated ⦠KENORA â Grassy Narrows First Nation is getting a treatment centre for Mercury poisoning and issues resulting from long-term exposure to the element from the waters of the English River â Wabigoon Water system. It was Kas Glowacki. Symptoms of mercury poisoning include loss of muscle co-ordination, slurred speech and tunnel vision. READ MORE: Trudeau apologizes after telling First Nations mercury poisoning protester, ‘Thank you for your donation’. A study published on April 27 th by the ⦠A First Nation of about 650 people near Ontarioâs border with Manitoba, Grassy Narrowsâ water was contaminated by tonnes of mercury dumped into its water system by an upstream paper mill. Government agencies responsible for the cleanup and study of the mercury pollution in the Wabigoon River system fear that dredging the sediments in the Wabigoon River may increase the levels of mercury downstream. We were parked on the side of the road just outside Carstairs, Alta., feeling pretty dejected when the call came through. Tuncak, an American chemist and lawyer, also said he is left with a question about discrimination. Indigenous Services Minister and Grassy Narrows chief discuss proposed agreement, medical facility. The story of Kas Glowacki and the alleged dump led us to new sources in the Grassy Narrows, science and legal communities and new information that shed light on decades of government stalling and dissembling. “I am committed to working with Chief Turtle and council and committed to getting this right,” O’Regan said in a statement. He argued that such a fund would ensure the project moves ahead no matter the results of the October federal election – a move supported by former Indigenous-services minister Jane Philpott, now an Independent MP. Both Grassy Narrows and Whitedog, a different community which is part of Wabaseemoong Independent Nations, are downstream from the pollution, which is not yet resolved. “We are being poisoned by mercury and our people are suffering and I think that things should be called as they are.”, Get a roundup of the most important and intriguing stories, delivered to your inbox, Mercury contamination in Grassy Narrows example of government ‘inaction’: UN human rights expert. Is located about 130 kilometres away manufacture chlorine, which was in used! Written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors with a question about discrimination from! The afternoon, we ’ d exhausted all our options safe levels that lasts.. 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