Grassy Narrows is under threat — again!

A warning is echoing from the past — and the Ontario government seems poised to ignore it.

In northern Washington, the Buckhorn Mountain mine operated by Crown Resources, a subsidiary of Toronto-based Kinross Gold, left a legacy of contamination. Since 2008, tainted water from the site has leached lead, arsenic, and other heavy metals into rivers feeding the Columbia watershed. Court filings show the mine violated the U.S. Clean Water Act over 3,500 times — a record Kinross defends, but cannot erase.

Now, the same company is eyeing a new mining operation in northwestern Ontario, directly upstream from Grassy Narrows First Nation — a community already reeling from one of Canada’s most devastating industrial pollution disasters.

From 1962 to 1970, a pulp and paper mill dumped tonnes of mercury into the Wabigoon River, poisoning the fish and the people who ate them. That mercury still lingers in the ecosystem, and its effects are intergenerational. Residents continue to suffer from neurological symptoms including tremors, speech impairment, and muscle deterioration.

Yet despite this legacy, Kinross has applied for two provincial permits for its “Great Bear” project — one of which would allow the company to discharge treated wastewater into the river systems Grassy Narrows relies on for fish and sustenance.

The danger? According to scientists hired by Grassy Narrows, Kinross’s treatment system does not address sulphate — a pollutant that can intensify mercury contamination by transforming it into even more toxic methylmercury, which bioaccumulates in fish and threatens human health.

“This is not a scientifically acceptable way to approach pollution of natural rivers these days,”

— Dr. Brian Branfireun, Western University

A provincial tribunal recently agreed. It found Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment had approved one of Kinross’s earlier permits despite “incomplete” studies and a “threat of serious environmental impacts.” The tribunal ruled that there was “good reason to believe no reasonable person” could have signed off on it — an alarming indictment of the province’s environmental review process.

Kinross withdrew the permit, only to reapply.

Even more concerning is that the Ontario government’s recently passed Bill 5 will allow the province to fast-track mining approvals, potentially overriding community opposition and robust environmental assessment.

“How many times can the government put our health and way of life in the hands of a dangerous industry that cares only about profits?”

— Joseph Fobister, Grassy Narrows

Kinross claims it is committed to high environmental standards and has denied wrongdoing at any of its sites — including in Alaska, where it recently settled another EPA case over hazardous waste disposal.

The pattern is clear: repeated legal violations, rushed permit approvals, and the silencing of Indigenous concerns. Grassy Narrows is already carrying the heavy burden of past industrial pollution. To put this community at risk again is not just reckless — it’s unconscionable.

Earthroots stands with Grassy Narrows. We must not let history repeat itself!

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