The Toronto Star reports today that : “The young generations of Grassy Narrows and another nearby First Nation community have a “surprisingly” high rate of mercury poisoning symptoms, according to leading Japanese researchers. The research team, which examined dozens of people of all ages in both communities during a 2014 trip, found that nearly all those tested had sensory disturbance — a telltale sign of mercury poisoning that includes a loss of sensation in the hands or feet and around the mouth. That rate is “extremely high,” according to a report released by the researchers Tuesday.
“This is a new finding,” Dr. Masanori Hanada told the Star through a translator. “I think Canadian doctors and Canadian officials should start looking at (this issue).” His team is a world leader in the study of mercury poisoning.”
The federal and provincial governments have been denying the scope of the mercury problem for almost 50 years.
Please take a moment now to sign this letter telling Premier Wynne she must finally bring justice to the people of Grassy Narrows who have been waiting and suffering for decades.
The letter calls on her to:
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provide the best possible healthcare for mercury survivors -
compensate those who have been impacted -
fund an environmental health monitoring station run by the people of Grassy Narrows -
monitor pollution sources and remediate the mercury contamination in the English-Wabigoon River system -
end corporate logging without community authorization
TODAY in TORONTO: VOICES FROM FRONTLINE WATER DEFENDERS
If you are in Toronto today, September 20th, join Judy Da Silva, Vanessa Gray, and Waawaate Fobister as well as Japanese experts for a public talk at 6:30pm, University of Toronto, Room 1101 Sanford Fleming Building. 10 King’s College Road.
For numerous blogs by Brent Patterson, Michael Butler, Meera Karunananthan and myself on the Grassy Narrows First Nation struggle for water justice, please click here.
