The Wabigoon River is a river

River

A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...

 in Kenora District

Kenora District, Ontario

Kenora District is a district and census division in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. It was created in 1907 from parts of Rainy River District. It is, geographically, the largest division in that province; at 407,192.66 km2 it comprises almost 38 percent of the province's land area...

 in northwestern

Northwestern Ontario

Northwestern Ontario is the region within the Canadian province of Ontario which lies north and west of Lake Superior, and west of Hudson Bay and James Bay. It includes most of subarctic Ontario. Its western boundary is the Canadian province of Manitoba, which disputed Ontario's claim to the...

 Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. It flows from Raleigh Lake past Dryden, Ontario

Dryden, Ontario

Dryden is the second-largest city in the Kenora District of Northwestern Ontario, Canada, located on Wabigoon Lake. It is the smallest community in the province of Ontario designated as a city...

 on Wabigoon Lake

Wabigoon Lake

Wabigoon Lake is a lake in Kenora District in northwestern Ontario, Canada. The community of Dryden is located on the north shore of the lake, and the primary inflow and outflow is the Wabigoon River...

 to join the English River

English River (Ontario)

The English River flows through Lac Seul to join the Winnipeg River. The river is 615 km in length. There are several hydroelectric plants on this river.Tributaries of this river include the Vermilion River and the Wabigoon River...

. The name "Wabigoon" comes from the Ojibwe waabigon, "marigold", or waabi-miigwan, "white feather".

Course

The river begins at Crocker Bay at the northwest of Raleigh Lake, flows northwest over the Raleigh Falls, then under Ontario Highway 17 and the Canadian Pacific Railway

Canadian Pacific Railway

The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...

 transcontinental main line

Main line (railway)

The Mainline or Main line of a railway is a track that is used for through trains or is the principal artery of the system from which branch lines, yards, sidings and spurs are connected....

 at the settlement of Raleigh. It continues northwest, takes in the right tributary Little Wabigoon River, then turns southwest back under the CP line and Highway 17 at the settlement of Taché. The river takes in the left tributary Mennin River, flows over Walker Falls, and takes in the right tributary Melgund Creek all near the settlement of Borups Corners, enters Dinorwic Lake, and flows into Wabigoon Lake, where it takes in the left tributary Crooked River. The Wabigoon River exits the lake at the northwest at Dryden, and flows northwest, through Wainwright Township dam and generating station (operated by Regional Power, a subsidiary of Manulife Financial), takes in the left tributary Eagle River, passes under Ontario Highway 105, then under Ontario Highway 609 and the Canadian National Railway

Canadian National Railway

The Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad"....

 transcontinental

Transcontinental railroad

A transcontinental railroad is a contiguous network of railroad trackage that crosses a continental land mass with terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks can be via the tracks of either a single railroad, or over those owned or controlled by multiple railway companies...

 main line

Main line (railway)

The Mainline or Main line of a railway is a track that is used for through trains or is the principal artery of the system from which branch lines, yards, sidings and spurs are connected....

 and over Quibell Dam the latter three at the settlement of Quibell

Quibell, Ontario

Quibell is an unincorporated place and railway point in Unorganized Kenora District in northwestern Ontario, Canada. It is named after William A. Quibell , a Police Commissioner in Durham County, Ontario...

. It then heads northwest to Clay Lake, takes in the left tributary Canyon River at Canyon Strecth, passes through Segise Lake, and reaches its mouth at Ball Lake on the English River.

Mercury pollution

In 1962, Dryden Chemical Company began operating a chloralkali process

Chloralkali process

The chloralkali process is an industrial process for the electrolysis of sodium chloride solution . Depending on the method several products beside hydrogen can be produced. If the products are separated, chlorine and sodium hydroxide are the products; by mixing, sodium hypochlorite or sodium...

 plant in Dryden that produced chlorine

Chlorine

Chlorine is the chemical element with atomic number 17 and symbol Cl. It is the second lightest halogen, found in the periodic table in group 17. The element forms diatomic molecules under standard conditions, called dichlorine...

 and sodium hydroxide which were used at the nearby Dryden Pulp and Paper Company for bleach

Bleach

Bleach refers to a number of chemicals that remove color, whiten, or disinfect, often via oxidation. Common chemical bleaches include household chlorine bleach , lye, oxygen bleach , and bleaching powder...

ing pulp

Wood pulp

Pulp is a lignocellulosic fibrous material prepared by chemically or mechanically separating cellulose fibres from wood, fibre crops or waste paper. Wood pulp is the most common raw material in papermaking.-History:...

. Dryden Chemical Company dumped its waste water containing mercury

Mercury (element)

Mercury is a chemical element with the symbol Hg and atomic number 80. It is also known as quicksilver or hydrargyrum...

 into the Wabigoon River. The mercury pollution spread throughout the downstream Wabigoon-English River system. The mercury entered the food chain

Food chain

A food web depicts feeding connections in an ecological community. Ecologists can broadly lump all life forms into one of two categories called trophic levels: 1) the autotrophs, and 2) the heterotrophs...

 and accumulated

Bioaccumulation

Bioaccumulation refers to the accumulation of substances, such as pesticides, or other organic chemicals in an organism. Bioaccumulation occurs when an organism absorbs a toxic substance at a rate greater than that at which the substance is lost...

 in fish which were a major part of the diet for First Nations

First Nations

First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...

 people on reserves at Grassy Narrows and Whitedog. This caused severe mercury poisoning

Mercury poisoning

Mercury poisoning is a disease caused by exposure to mercury or its compounds. Mercury is a heavy metal occurring in several forms, all of which can produce toxic effects in high enough doses...

 with symptoms including neurological problems and birth defects among these people and also resulted in the closure of a commercial fishery and a fishing lodge in the area. In 1985, an agreement was signed which committed the federal and provincial governments and the two private companies involved to provide compensation.

Tributaries

• Wolf Creek (left)
• Canyon River (left)
• Clay Lake
  • Beaton Creek (right)
• Redbluff Creek (right)
• Blackbluff Creek (right)
• Hutchinson Creek (left)
• Buller Creek (right)
• Colenso Creek (right)
• Mutrie Creek (right)
• Eagle River (left)
• Beaver Creek (left)
• Shoshowae Creek (left)
• Rugby Creek (right)
• Gullwing Creek (right)
• Swanson's Creek (right)
• Wabigoon Lake
  • McLeod's Creek (left)
  • Threefork Creek (left)
  • Pitchinese Creek (left)
  • Blackwater Creek (right)
  • Nugget Creek (right)
• Dinorwic Lake
  • Tobacco Creek (left)
  • Crooked River (left)
  • McKenzie Creek (right)
  • Battie Creek (right)
• Melgund Creek (right)
• Mennin River (left)
• Little Wabigoon River (right)