As Premier Kathleen Wynne scrambles to determine why she was in the dark about an explosive report detailing mercury-contaminated soil and groundwater near Grassy Narrows, Ottawa faces new criticism it’s doing little to help the poisoned Indigenous community.

Wynne insists she didn’t know about a report given to the Ministry of the Environment in July 2016 that revealed mercury could be seen in the soil under the mill upstream from Grassy Narrows First Nation in northern Ontario.

“The specifics of this latest report are new information for me,” the premier told reporters Wednesday after a United Way of Greater Toronto event.

Asked why it was left to the Star to reveal what had been known inside the provincial government for more than a year, Wynne did not mince words.

“We’re asking those questions. We are not sure exactly . . . how that information hadn’t made it to my desk, but we’re asking that question,” she said.

“It is always a concern if we don’t have the information that we need to make good decisions. We have questions.”

The Star recently reported that the government has had the explosive report in its possession for over a year. The report, which was commissioned by Domtar, the company that now owns the mill, says that in 1990 the environment ministry was told that mercury was visible in soil under a building on the mill site.

Further, companies that previously owned the mill tested groundwater wells on the property in the 1990s and early 2000s and discovered elevated levels of mercury. Just last year, Domtar had one of these wells tested and the result showed an elevated mercury level.

The people of Grassy Narrows say they weren’t told about any of this information until days ago. The Environment Ministry said it was unaware of this well data until it got the report in July 2016.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said she “cannot believe that the premier of this province wasn’t aware of a report that speaks to the current issues in that situation.”

“I have a hard time with that statement. This is one of the hottest political files,” said Horwath.

“Forty years these people have been exposed to this toxic chemical, mercury, in their water,” she said.

Ontario environmental commissioner Dianne Saxe in October condemned years of inaction by the provincial government in Aamjiwnaang First Nation and Grassy Narrows.

Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation Minister David Zimmer emphasized “ministries do not keep the premier of the day in the dark.”

“I would not characterize it as a communications breakdown. When the Domtar report was prepared the government became aware of the 1990 report. The last while we’ve been working with Grassy on how to approach this remediation issue,” said Zimmer.

Between 1962 and 1970, the paper plant in Dryden, then owned by Reed Paper, dumped 10 tonnes of mercury into the river about 100 kilometres upstream. The potent neurotoxin contaminated the fish, which poisoned the people of Grassy Narrows and nearby Wabaseemoong (Whitedog) Independent Nations. (There is no suggestion that Domtar, a pulp manufacturer several owners removed from Reed Paper, is responsible for any source of mercury.)

During the intervening years, as the residents of Grassy Narrows and scientists sounded the alarm about the mercury’s reach and impact, government official after government official kept repeating that there was no ongoing source of mercury to the Wabigoon River that is the lifeblood of Grassy Narrows. The residents were told the river would, over time, clean itself naturally.

The mercury contamination still plagues these Indigenous communities in northern Ontario. Recent key findings by the Star, environmental group Earthroots, and top scientists have shown high levels of mercury in soil, fish and river sediment — all strongly suggesting the site of the mill is still leaking mercury nearly 50 years on. Japanese experts examined dozens of people in the communities in 2014 and found that nearly all had a telltale sign of mercury poisoning, including the younger generations.

The Environment Ministry told the Star last week that it did not publicly release the information in the report because it “is derived from a third-party report that is owned by Domtar and was prepared by their consultant.”

At the time Domtar gave the report to government, Glen Murray was the environment minister. He has told the Star that he got a briefing on the report but never saw the report and has no recollection of being told by ministry staff about the 1990 incident when mill workers saw mercury in the soil or the numerous findings of elevated mercury in groundwater.

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In the wake of the report finally becoming public last week, Grassy Narrows Chief Simon Fobister was drafting a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Wednesday — the latest of several attempts the community has made to get the federal government more involved.

In a draft of the letter, Fobister said that despite a federal commitment made in January 2017 to help the province “‘get to the bottom of the science, and the next steps necessary to deal with this issue once and for all,’ . . . we have yet to receive any concrete support from your government.”

The letter demands Ottawa help fund the building and operation of a Mercury Home and Treatment Centre, “so that survivors of mercury poisoning can finally receive the specialized treatment and supports, including end of life care, they desperately need, in a culturally appropriate manner in the community.”

"My children are sick, my community is sick" - Grassy Narrows residents describe the toll of decades of mercury poisoning. This video was originally published in July, 2016.(Toronto Star)

It also demands compensation for community members whose “health, culture and livelihoods” have been severely impacted by decades of mercury poisoning.

The letter concludes by saying the community has written to Trudeau three times in recent years to invite him the community to discuss these issues “and have yet to receive a response to our letters.”

In response to general questions about the federal government’s commitment to Grassy Narrows, a spokesperson for Trudeau’s office said that relevant ministers’ offices would respond “for the government as a whole.”

A spokesperson for Indigenous Services Minister Jane Philpott said the federal government was committed to “ensuring the well-being” of both communities and was currently in “exploratory discussions” to improve that well-being and reform the Mercury Disability Board, which was set up to offer some compensation to victims.

As well, the spokesperson said Health Canada currently funds a health centre with a treatment component, home care, public health and primary care services as well as community programs.

Wynne emphasized that her government is taking the mercury contamination seriously. “When I was the minister of Aboriginal Affairs . . . I had been at Grassy Narrows and I had worked with the leadership there,” the premier said. “I had worked with scientists in the Ministry of the Environment to ask the question of what we could be doing.

This summer Wynne’s government announced the $85-million river cleanup and then introduced legislation Tuesday that would see the money put in a trust to ensure the funds will be there for the remediation regardless of who is in power.

Fobister called the proposed legislation “a historic milestone.” The bill also calls for a panel — made up of government officials as well as representatives from Grassy Narrows and nearby White Dog First Nation — that would be in charge of directing the money.

Pointing to the $85-million fund, Wynne said there is a need for Ottawa to help the province with compensation for those who were made sick by the mercury pollution.

“I think that this latest report points to the need for additional activity, apart from what we're doing in terms of cleaning up the river,” she added.

“But there needs to be the federal government, the First Nation, the provincial government, Health Canada sitting at the table to determine what the next steps should be.”

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