Grassy Narrows chief questions delay on promised mercury testing
(The Star Toronto Raptors)

It has been almost four years since a retired labourer said that in 1972 he and some co-workers from the Dryden mill dumped barrels of salt and mercury into an earthen pit near the river that flows to Grassy Narrows First Nation.After his allegation, Star reporters and volunteers from an environmental group went to this shrubby clearing behind the mill and found high mercury levels in the soil. Then, provincial scientists turned up mercury in the same soil and found there could be metal objects buried beneath.Finally spurred to action, the province said it would soon dig up the clearing behind a tree line off Gordon Rd. to look for answers.That was a year ago. Nothing has happened. Grassy Narrows Chief Rudy Turtle wonders why.He said he met with Environment Minister Rod Phillips in October, and Phillips told him he would send Grassy Narrows dig plans within two weeks. None came.“It shows their lack of commitment to resolve this issue,� Turtle said, adding he is worried the mercury in the area could be making his people sick. “It’s about time that they give us the answers. We want to know if there is a leak coming in from that area.�Phillips, who refused to comment for this story, sent Turtle a letter Feb. 7 saying he is committed to addressing the community’s concerns but offered no dig plans.An environment ministry spokesperson told the Star that officials are “carefully reviewing the options on how best to proceed with the assessment at the Gordon Rd. site that address health and safety and environmental considerations.�To Scott Hamilton, an archeology professor at Lakehead University and adviser to Grassy Narrows, it seems clear the province should “chase the anomalies and see what is causing them.�This kind of “brownfield remediation� work would involve boring holes or digging trenches to find the metal that had triggered provincial electromagnetic equipment and to sample the sediment an ...