Wabigoon River

The Wabigoon River is a river in northwestern Ontario which flows from Wabigoon Lake at Dryden, Ontario to join the English River.

Mercury pollution

In 1962, Dryden Chemical Company began operating a chloralkali process plant in Dryden that produced chlorine and sodium hydroxide which were used at the nearby Dryden Pulp and Paper Company for bleaching pulp.cite journal|author=D'ltri, P A and D'ltri, F M | title=Mercury contamination: A human tragedy | journal=Environmental Management | volume=2 | issue=1 | pages=3–16 | month=Jan | year=1978 | issn=1432-1009 | doi=10.1007/BF01866442] cite paper|author=McDonald, A | title=Indigenous peoples' vulnerabilities exposed: Lessons learned from Canada's Minamata incident: An Environmental analysis based on the case study of methyl-mercury pollution in northwestern Ontario, Canada | booktitle=JACS Conference 2007 | publisher=Japanese Association for Canadian Studies | url=http://jacs.jp/AnnualConf2007/JACS2007/JACS2007resume/20070923mcdonald-e.pdf | accessdate=2007-12-14] Dryden Chemical Company dumped its waste water containing mercury into the Wabigoon River. The mercury pollution spread throughout the downstream Wabigoon-English River system. The mercury entered the food chain and accumulated in fish which were a major part of the diet for First Nations people on reserves at Grassy Narrows and Whitedog. This caused severe mercury poisoning with symptoms including neurological problems and birth defects among these people and also resulted in the closure of a commercial fishery and a fishing lodge in the area. In 1985, an agreement was signed which committed the federal and provincial governments and the two private companies involved to provide compensation.

References

ee also

*List of Ontario rivers
*Ontario Minamata disease