FreeGrassy
50 signatures reached
To: Kathleen Wynne and Justin Trudeau
Commit to building a Mercury Home and Treatment Centre in Grassy Narrows
Premier Wynne and Prime Minister Trudeau,
Make an immediate, written binding commitment to build a state of the art Mercury Home and Treatment Centre in Grassy Narrows First Nation.
I was horrified and outraged to learn that the government of Ontario has been hiding evidence for decades that the grounds of the infamous Dryden mill site upstream of Grassy Narrows are soaked with mercury.
The news reported by the Toronto Star on Nov. 11 is shocking. A work crew repairing a concrete floor on the mill property in 1990 saw visible mercury in the soil, evidence of extreme industrial pollution. In the decades since, secret groundwater wells near the river showed mercury levels that reached nearly a million times the natural level in the Wabigoon River. Then in 2007, the company stopped testing those wells. Key wells between the plant and the river were destroyed.
Instead of acting to clean this mercury, you government lied and did nothing. Generations of people in Grassy Narrows have been made irreversibly sick from mercury poisoning as a result.
The words of Grassy Narrows activist and grandmother Judy Da Silva express so many of our feelings: “It shows how lowly we are, the Anishinabeg, to the government and corporations. Like we are not worth it to be alive. They knew about this poison and they did nothing. They didn’t even tell us. It is awful.”
The survivors of this avoidable disaster deserve the best possible health care and support. Grassy Narrows is demanding a Mercury Home and Treatment Centre so that their sick loved ones can be treated with dignity, close to their families.
I urge you to listen to them. Make a binding commitment immediately, to build a Mercury Home and Treatment Centre in Grassy Narrows without further delay.
This is an issue that matters deeply to me and millions of other people, and I will be following this closely to see that mercury justice is delivered to Grassy Narrows.
CC: Hon. Jane Philpott, Hon. Chris Ballard.
Sincerely,
Make an immediate, written binding commitment to build a state of the art Mercury Home and Treatment Centre in Grassy Narrows First Nation.
I was horrified and outraged to learn that the government of Ontario has been hiding evidence for decades that the grounds of the infamous Dryden mill site upstream of Grassy Narrows are soaked with mercury.
The news reported by the Toronto Star on Nov. 11 is shocking. A work crew repairing a concrete floor on the mill property in 1990 saw visible mercury in the soil, evidence of extreme industrial pollution. In the decades since, secret groundwater wells near the river showed mercury levels that reached nearly a million times the natural level in the Wabigoon River. Then in 2007, the company stopped testing those wells. Key wells between the plant and the river were destroyed.
Instead of acting to clean this mercury, you government lied and did nothing. Generations of people in Grassy Narrows have been made irreversibly sick from mercury poisoning as a result.
The words of Grassy Narrows activist and grandmother Judy Da Silva express so many of our feelings: “It shows how lowly we are, the Anishinabeg, to the government and corporations. Like we are not worth it to be alive. They knew about this poison and they did nothing. They didn’t even tell us. It is awful.”
The survivors of this avoidable disaster deserve the best possible health care and support. Grassy Narrows is demanding a Mercury Home and Treatment Centre so that their sick loved ones can be treated with dignity, close to their families.
I urge you to listen to them. Make a binding commitment immediately, to build a Mercury Home and Treatment Centre in Grassy Narrows without further delay.
This is an issue that matters deeply to me and millions of other people, and I will be following this closely to see that mercury justice is delivered to Grassy Narrows.
CC: Hon. Jane Philpott, Hon. Chris Ballard.
Sincerely,
Why is this important?
Shocking news broke on November 11 that the government of Ontario has been hiding evidence for decades that the grounds of the infamous Dryden mill site upstream of Grassy Narrows are soaked with mercury. [https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2017/11/11/ontario-knew-about-mercury-site-near-grassy-narrows-for-decades-but-kept-it-secret.html]
Tell Premier Wynne and Prime Minister Trudeau to make an immediate, binding commitment to build a state of the art Mercury Home and Treatment Centre in Grassy Narrows First Nation.
Tell Premier Wynne and Prime Minister Trudeau to make an immediate, binding commitment to build a state of the art Mercury Home and Treatment Centre in Grassy Narrows First Nation.