Ontario Minamata disease is a

neurological Neurology (from , "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the nervous system, which comprises the brain, the s ...

syndrome caused by severe

mercury poisoning Mercury poisoning is a type of metal poisoning due to exposure to mercury. Symptoms depend upon the type, dose, method, and duration of exposure. They may include muscle weakness, poor coordination, numbness in the hands and feet, skin rashe ...

. It occurred in the

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

province of

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, in 1970, and severely affected two First Nation communities in

Northwestern Ontario Northwestern Ontario is a secondary region of Northern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario which lies north and west of Lake Superior and west of Hudson Bay and James Bay. It includes most of subarctic Ontario. Its western boundary is the ...

following consumption of local fish contaminated with mercury, and one First Nation in

Southern Ontario Southern Ontario is a Region, primary region of the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. It is the most densely populated and southernmost region in Canada, with approximately 13.5 million people, approximately 36% o ...

due to illegal disposal of industrial chemical waste. The disease was named after the infamous case of severe mercury poisoning in the fishing community of

Minamata is a city located in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. It is on the west coast of Kyūshū and faces Amakusa islands. Minamata was established as a village in 1889, re-designated as a town in 1912 and grew into a city in 1949. As of March 2017, the ci ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, which became known as

Minamata disease is a neurological disease caused by severe mercury poisoning. Signs and symptoms include ataxia, numbness in the hands and feet, general muscle weakness, loss of peripheral vision, and damage to hearing and speech. In extreme cases, insanity, ...

because it devastated only the residents of the community.

Source of the mercury pollution

Grassy Narrows and Whitedog First Nations

In 1962, Dryden Chemical Company began operating a

chloralkali process The chloralkali process (also chlor-alkali and chlor alkali) is an industrial process for the electrolysis of sodium chloride (NaCl) solutions. It is the technology used to produce chlorine and sodium hydroxide (caustic soda), which are commodi ...

plant in

Dryden, Ontario Dryden is the second-largest city in the Kenora District of northwestern Ontario, Canada, located on Wabigoon Lake. It is the least populous community in Ontario incorporated as a city. The City of Dryden had a population of 7,388 and its Census g ...

, using mercury cells. It produced

sodium hydroxide Sodium hydroxide, also known as lye and caustic soda, is an inorganic compound with the formula . It is a white solid ionic compound consisting of sodium cations and hydroxide anions . Sodium hydroxide is a highly corrosive base (chemistry), ...

and

chlorine Chlorine is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Cl and atomic number 17. The second-lightest of the halogens, it appears between fluorine and bromine in the periodic table and its properties are mostly intermediate between ...

that were used in large amounts for

bleaching Bleach is the generic name for any chemical product that is used industrially or domestically to remove color from (i.e. to whiten) fabric or fiber (in a process called bleaching) or to disinfect after cleaning. It often refers specifically t ...

paper during production by the nearby Dryden Pulp and Paper Company. Both companies were subsidiaries of the British multinational,

Reed International RELX plc (pronounced "Rel-ex") is a British multinational information and analytics company headquartered in London, England. Its businesses provide scientific, technical and medical information and analytics; legal information and analytics; ...

. Dryden Chemical Company discharged their effluent directly into the Wabigoon- English River system. In 1970, extensive mercury contamination was discovered in this river system, leading to closure of the commercial fishery and some tourism related businesses. On March 26, 1970, the Ontario provincial government ordered Dryden Chemical Company to cease dumping mercury into the river system, although the order did not place any restrictions on airborne emissions of mercury by the company. It was estimated that over 9,000 kg of mercury had been dumped by the company into the Wabigoon-English river system between 1962 and 1970. The airborne emissions of mercury continued unabated until the company stopped using mercury cells in its chloralkali process in October 1975; the company closed down in 1976.

Sarnia First Nation

The

Aamjiwnaang First Nation The Aamjiwnaang First Nation (formerly Chippewas of Sarnia First Nation; ) is an Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) First Nations Band located on reserve land by the St. Clair River in Ontario, Canada, three miles south of the southern tip of Lake Huron. Th ...

(the Chippewas of Sarnia) is located on the

St. Clair River The St. Clair River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed November 7, 2011 river in central North America which flows from Lake Huron into Lake St. Clair, forming part ...

, affectionately called by the local population "Chemical Valley". This First Nation is plagued by numerous chemical affective disorders, including mercury poisoning. Elders in the community recall collecting mercury from the local toxic waste dump by pouring water, then selling the collected mercury on the

black market A black market is a Secrecy, clandestine Market (economics), market or series of transactions that has some aspect of illegality, or is not compliant with an institutional set of rules. If the rule defines the set of goods and services who ...

Health effects

Grassy Narrows and Whitedog First Nations

In the late 1960s, people in the Grassy Narrows and Whitedog First Nations populations started to have symptoms of mercury poisoning. Several Japanese doctors who had been involved in studying

in Japan travelled to Canada to investigate the mercury poisoning in these people. Blood mercury levels were above 100 ppb in a significant number of individuals and above 200 ppb in several others. Symptoms included sensory disturbances, such as narrowing of the

visual field The visual field is "that portion of space in which objects are visible at the same moment during steady fixation of the gaze in one direction"; in ophthalmology and neurology the emphasis is mostly on the structure inside the visual field and it i ...

, and impaired hearing, abnormal

eye movement Eye movement includes the voluntary or involuntary movement of the eyes. Eye movements are used by a number of organisms (e.g. primates, rodents, flies, birds, fish, cats, crabs, octopus) to fixate, inspect and track visual objects of inte ...

tremor A tremor is an involuntary, somewhat rhythmic muscle contraction and relaxation involving neural oscillations, oscillations or twitching movements of one or more body parts. It is the most common of all involuntary movements and can affect the h ...

ataxia Ataxia (from Greek α- negative prefix+ -τάξις rder= "lack of order") is a neurological sign consisting of lack of voluntary coordination of muscle movements that can include gait abnormality, speech changes, and abnormalities in e ...

(impaired balance), and

dysarthria Dysarthria is a speech sound disorder resulting from neurological injury of the motor component of the motor–speech system and is characterized by poor articulation of phonemes. It is a condition in which problems effectively occur with the ...

(poor articulation of speech). Health effects continued to be felt, even in young people, in the 21st century. Dumping of drums of mercury which continue to leak is suspected, and field work by Brian Branfireun and others continues to monitor the health of the ecosystem.

Lawsuits and settlements

Grassy Narrows and Whitedog First Nations

The '' Asabiinyashkosiwagong Nitam-Anishinaabeg'' or the "Grassy Narrows First Nation" and their downstream neighbours, the Wabaseemoong Independent Nations (then known as the "Whitedog Community of the Islington Band of Saulteaux") "sought compensation for loss of jobs and way of life. According to the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs (INAC) Ontario Region Communications, "on March 26, 1982, Canada contributed $2.2 million to Wabaseemoong for economic development, social and educational programs. Wabaseemoong also signed a settlement with Ontario in January 1983. On July 27, 1984,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

contributed $4.4 million to Grassy Narrows for economic development and social service development/planning." According to INAC, a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) reached in 1985 between the federal government, the Ontario government, Reed Limited, and Great Lakes Forest Products Ltd. resulted in a one-time compensation payment of $16.67 million with the federal government contributing $2 million, the Ontario government paying . Through the 1986 "Grassy Narrows and Islington Indian Bands Mercury Pollution Claims Settlement Act". Through this claims settlement, the

Kenora, Ontario Kenora (), previously named Rat Portage (), is a city situated on the Lake of the Woods in Ontario, Canada, close to the Manitoba boundary, and about east of Winnipeg by road. It is the seat of Kenora District. The history of the name exten ...

-based Mercury Disability Fund (MDF) and the Mercury Disability Board. The Government of Ontario held $2 million of this settlement in a trust fund which the province is "responsible for replenishing when the balance drops below $100,000. Nevertheless, the community members have seen little of this money, due to conditions on its use and bureaucratic requirements by

band council In Canada, an Indian band (), First Nation band () or simply band, is the basic unit of government for those peoples subject to the ''Indian Act'' (i.e. status Indians or First Nations). Bands are typically small groups of people: the largest in ...

s. Similarly to other First Nations communities, the federal government's

Indian Act The ''Indian Act'' () is a Canadian Act of Parliament that concerns registered Indians, their bands, and the system of Indian reserves. First passed in 1876 and still in force with amendments, it is the primary document that defines how t ...

governance system has made it difficult for band councils and chiefs to negotiate for their people. Chief Sakatcheway was the first leader of community when the treaty was signed and mainly wanted education for the community.

References

External links

CBC Digital Archives: ''Grassy Narrows: Still ill'' (Sept. 2002)

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20051102120222/http://www.aboutremediation.com/article.asp?id=2170 copy of ''Toronto Star'' news archive
Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, Fact Sheet: English-Wabigoon River Mercury Compensation

''Fort Frances Times'' news archive

copy of ''Indian Life'' news archive

Grassy Narrows & Islington Band Mercury Disability Board web page

* Grassy Narrows and Islington Indian Bands Mercury Pollution Claims Settlement Act (1986, c. 23
Justice Canada version
an

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ontario Minamata Disease Environmental disasters in Canada First Nations history in Ontario 1970 in Ontario Health disasters in Canada Mercury poisoning 1970 in Canada Minamata disease 1970 disasters in Canada Environmental racism in Canada

Source of the mercury pollution

Grassy Narrows and Whitedog First Nations

Sarnia First Nation

Health effects

Grassy Narrows and Whitedog First Nations

Lawsuits and settlements

Grassy Narrows and Whitedog First Nations

See also

References

Further reading

External links