Grassy Narrows First Nations resident Judy Da Silva has thyroid disease and her 14-year-old daughter suffers from unexplained tremors.

Four decades after 20,000 pounds of mercury were dumped into the English River by a Dryden mill, a new Japanese study shows 59 per cent of the 160 people currently living in Grassy Narrows and White Dog First Nations have a form of mercury poisoning.

The people of Grassy and White Dog ate fish— as a main staple — from the English-Wabigoon River system until the 1970s, when they were cautioned it was contaminated. Some still do because they have little else to eat.

The study, written by Dr. Masazumi Harada and entitled, “Mercury Contamination on Indigenous Communities in Ontario, Canada,” shows about 44 per cent of people aged 21 to 41 — those born after commercial fishing ended — have been affected.

Health Canada’s Stephane Shank told the Star it continues to review all relevant scientific evidence and will test hair and blood samples of all who feel affected. But Ottawa’s studies indicate mercury levels were safe for the general population.

Aboriginal Affairs Minister Kathleen Wynne said while she has yet to see this latest report, access to safe, healthy food is a must for all Ontarians and she hopes they can work out a solution.

She noted there is still a consumption advisory on eating the fish. “What that says to me is that probably the fish shouldn’t be eaten and I understand that it’s painful to people in the community who want to eat that fish,” she said.

Canada is a beautiful country, full of great waters and land but industry has to be responsible, Chief Simon Fobister said Monday at a press conference releasing the report.

“The situation is very worrisome for us. We still live with the results of contamination.”

What is “shameful” is that this has been allowed to go on for 40 years with little government acknowledgement or help for the people afflicted, said Ontario Regional Chief Angus Toulouse.

“This is an example of development going unnoticed. And it is another example of the Crown’s inability to honour the Treaty (Number 3),” he said.

Harada first visited Grassy Narrows, about 80 kilometres north of Kenora, in 1975 at the urging of a photojournalist. He discovered Indians suffering from what he described as Minamata disease, a condition arising from methyl-mercury exposure.

Tremors, tunnel vision, impaired hearing and speech and loss of muscular co-ordination and sensation in the extremities are hallmarks of the disease, which was first discovered in Minamata, Japan in 1956 after being linked to the industrial wastewater from a chemical factory.

In the mid-1980s, a mercury compensation board was set up for Grassy members and others First Nations in the area.

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But nearly three-quarters of those suffering with mercury poisoning do not receive anything from the board while some receive up to $800 a month.

“I have thyroid disease. A lot of women have that in Grassy. I have memory loss, heart disease, all different things,” said Da Silva, who receives $250 a month in compensation. Her daughter, Iruwa Da Silva, will soon travel to Winnipeg for mercury poisoning testing.