Nunatsiavut president pleads with premier to pump the brakes on Muskrat Falls flooding

Just weeks before the Muskrat Falls reservoir is to be flooded, the president of Nunatsiavut is imploring Premier Dwight Ball to suspend the process, citing concerns over methylmercury contamination of fish, mammals and birds in Lake Melville.

Johannes Lampe's public plea Monday is the latest in a series of attempts by the Labrador Inuit government to limit the risk of traditional food like salmon, seal and goose becoming dangerous to eat.

"Our concerns over methylmercury contamination are real and must be addressed before the reservoir is flooded," Lampe said in a statement released to the media.

Lampe is asking the premier to direct Nalcor, the Crown corporation building a hydro dam at Muskrat Falls, to suspend flooding until mitigation measures are taken.

"We are extremely disappointed with how the premier has handled the whole Muskrat Falls fiasco," Lampe's statement said.

"He has repeatedly betrayed our trust by refusing to address our concerns."

No one from the premier's office or Nalcor was immediately available for comment.

Long battle

Nunatsiavut began sounding the alarm over methylmercury before the Muskrat Falls hydro project got started.

The naturally occurring chemical compound already exists in Lake Melville and in soil and vegetation, like trees.

When the reservoir is flooded, vegetation once on dry land will be submerged. It will then decompose and release methylmercury into the water, and make its through the food chain.

Nunatsiavut commissioned research released in 2016 that suggests the amount of methylmercury released will make certain foods unsafe to eat.

Nalcor's own research suggests methylmercury levels will increase only slightly, causing no additional risk to traditional food consumption.

Hundreds protest

In October 2016, hundreds of protestors held a demonstration for more than a week outside the gates of the Muskrat Falls work site, demanding a plan to mitigate the effect of methylmercury.

Three young Inuit went on a hunger strike, one man cut the lock on a site gate and several people occupied a work camp for days. Dozens of people were arrested.

As a result of the unrest, the premier summoned the leaders of Labrador's three Indigenous groups to Confederation Building in St. John's.

After an 11-hour meeting, all parties agreed to create an independent advisory committee, which would recommend mitigation measures.

In 2018, the committee recommended — among other things — wetland capping to stem the release of methylmercury.

Then, in June, the inquiry into the Muskrat Falls project heard that the provincial government had in fact missed a deadline to begin capping and that flooding was to go ahead, regardless.

Nalcor plans to begin flooding the reservoir Aug. 7.

Lampe's statement says Nunatsiavut has "explored all options, including legal, to try to ensure mitigation measures are carried out," leaving the Inuit government with little recourse apart from this latest public appeal.

"In the spirit of reconciliation," the statement goes on, "we call on the premier to do the right thing."

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