Neurological and birth defects haunt Wabaseemoong First Nation, decades after mercury dumping

Forty-five years ago, mercury pollution from a pulp and paper mill poisoned hundreds of kilometres of waterways in northwestern Ontario.

Asubpeeschoseewagong First Nation, also known as Grassy Narrows, often makes headlines for its fight against the mercury poisoning. But few have heard of a tiny community called Wabaseemoong, also called Whitedog, just downstream.

Located approximately 100 kilometres northeast of Kenora, the community still grapples with the lingering effects of the methylmercury poisoning — a condition known as Minamata disease — which many blame for birth defects that appear in children in their community.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/aboriginal/wabaseemoong-birth-defects-mercury-dumping-1.3764315