An E. coli epidemic in the town of Walkerton may have killed as many as 11 people and sickened as many as 2,000, recent reports have said.
At least four investigations are ongoing. One group is looking at whether funding cutbacks over the past five years might be partly responsible for the outbreak.
"The fact that the families of Walkerton fell victim to something that each and every one of us takes for granted, something on which and everyone one of us relies -- the fact that their only mistake was to place their trust in a resource that each of us trusts, too -- only compounds the horror of the situation," said Premier Mike Harris in a statement to Parliament.
"But if any good is to come out of this horrible tragedy, if we are to learn from what went wrong, then these difficult
An attorney well-known for his handling of food-poisoning cases is urging towns in the US and Canada to treat this disaster as a wake-up call. questions must be asked."
"Canadian officials are embarrassed that 11 people have been killed and hundreds injured in Walkerton, Ontario from drinking municipal water carrying animal manure laced with E coli," attorney William Marler of Marler Clark said. "American health, environmental and water officials should be just as embarrassed given the record. People in both countries have an absolute right to safe, clean drinking water and not all are getting it. Why our public officials cannot learn from history shocks me," continued Marler.
On Thursday morning, May 25, the Walkerton Public Utilities Commission passed a resolution authorizing the retention of the Ontario Clean Water Agency to take over the operation and maintenance of the Walkerton water supply system for a period of at least 6 months. The OCWA is a private corporation which provides water and wastewater services to Ontario municipalities, operating 429 facilities in the province.
Businesses that use water were forced to close during the outbreak, forcing many residents to apply for social assistance.
To read more about the outbreak, visit the Walkerton E. coli site at http://town.walkerton.on.ca/walkerton2/index2.htm.
