The federal government and Grassy Narrows First Nation have signed a historic funding agreement that ensures the community receives almost $90 million from Ottawa for the construction and operation of a facility designed to care for those poisoned by mercury. It’s one more step in a decades-long saga that began in the 1960s, when the Dryden pulp and paper mill, operated by Reed Paper, dumped 10 tonnes of mercury into the Wabigoon River upstream of Grassy Narrows in northern Ontario. Scientists strongly suspect that old mercury still contaminates the mill site and pollutes the river. For years, Grassy Narrows has been pushing for money from the federal government so that it could build and operate a care home for those who have been poisoned. After having to travel between Kenora and a Thunder Bay facility 600 kilometres from Grassy Narrows to get care while he struggled with a degenerative neurological disorder, former chief and care-home advocate Steve Fobister died in 2018.

Source: thestar July 26, 2021 18:56 UTC