The problem with reservoirs is that they require land to be flooded and submerged, which creates a habitat conducive for bacteria which naturally live in soil and absorb mercury. The reservoirs convert this mercury into a form fish can ingest and the mercury enters the food chain. It bioaccumulates and can be much more lethal to humans by the time they eat the fish which have ingested the mercury. When the Cree Indians of nprthern Quebec ate fish from .the waters diverte4 for the mass~e Jim.es Bay hy'droelectric project,
unsafe levels ot thIS pOIsonous element. Mercury poisoning can cause blindness, reproductive failure, and brain damage. -MAUDE BARLOW + TONY CLARKE
64 percent took In
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