$8 Billion 'Clean' Energy Dam Could Poison Locals with Methylmercury

"Inuit hunters downstream from a massive $8 billion 'clean' energy project in Labrador fear it will poison their food supply with methylmercury when flooding begins later this month.

When it's complete, the Muskrat Falls dam project in Canada's north will provide a wealth of reliable, non-fossil fuel electricity to Canada's east coast and eventually, the province hopes, New England. The company behind the project says it will produce a whopping 16.7 terawatt hours of electricity a year, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of taking 3.2 million cars off the road.

But while new, non-fossil fuel energy sources are becoming increasingly vital as the world confronts climate change, peer-reviewed Harvard research suggests the dam flooding will increase methylmercury levels downstream by 14 times within 120 hours, putting the local Inuit at risk of poisoning from the neurotoxin. Climate change has also increased the worry of methylmercury in Canada's north because the melting permafrost is expected to deposit more of the dangerous toxin, which can cause poor brain development and impaired learning."

Hilary Beaumont reports for VICE News October 4, 2016.