- Wabigoon River
The Wabigoon River is a
river in northwesternOntario which flows fromWabigoon Lake atDryden, Ontario to join the English River.Mercury pollution
In 1962, Dryden Chemical Company began operating a
chloralkali process plant in Dryden that producedchlorine andsodium hydroxide which were used at the nearby Dryden Pulp and Paper Company forbleach ing 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 thefood chain and accumulated in fish which were a major part of the diet forFirst Nations people on reserves at Grassy Narrows and Whitedog. This caused severemercury poisoning with symptoms includingneurological problems andbirth defect s among these people and also resulted in the closure of a commercial fishery and a fishing lodge in the area. In1985 , 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
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