Walkerton is a relatively small community. At the time of the event Stan Koebel was manager and Frank Koebel was water foreman. Neither had any formal training in their position, retaining their jobs through three decades of on-the-job experience. The water supply became contaminated with the highly dangerous strain of E. coli bacteria, from farm runoff into an adjacent well that was known for years to be vulnerable to contamination.
Starting May 15, 2000, many residents of the town of about 5,000 began to simultaneously experience blue diarrhea, gastrointestinal infections and other symptoms of E. coli infection. For days the Walkerton Public Utilities Commission insisted the water supply was "OK" despite being in possession of laboratory tests that had found evidence of contamination. On May 21, an escalation in the number of patients with similar symptoms finally spurred the region's Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Murray McQuigge, to issue a boil water advisory, warning residents not to drink the water.
At least seven people died directly from drinking the E. coli contaminated water, who might have been saved if the Walkerton Public Utilities Commission had admitted to contaminated water sooner, and about 2,500 became ill.
The CBC news noted:
Premier Harris immediately blamed the former NDP government for loosening water standards. Within a week he had announced public inquiry that wound up laying part of the blame for the Walkerton disaster on cutbacks ordered by the Harris government.
During the time of the tragedy, both Stan and Frank Koebel denied any wrongdoing and firmly held that the water at Walkerton was safe to drink. However, as the tragedy grew in severity the two were eventually part of the criminal investigation into the tragedy, and, as a result, both would eventually plead guilty to a charge of common nuisance through a plea bargain. In their plea, they admitted to falsifying reports and Frank admitted to drinking on the job, though a beer fridge did exist at the facility.
They were both formally sentenced on December 21, 2004, with Stan receiving one year in jail and Frank Koebel nine months of house arrest. Reaction to their sentencing was mixed.
Via: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walkerton_TragedyComments:
After reading this article the first thing that came to my mind was how lucky I am that my family and I didn't get infected from the E. coli that was found only a couple hours north of where I live. I was also pretty shocked and upset to hear that 7 people had to die because of the negligence and mistake of the Stan and Frank. But after this tragedy, people started to realize the potential risk of livestock waste, seeping through the ground and getting collected in runoff water, that we drink! This article also relates to the theme of "butterfly effect", what just started as some cow manure, was then collected in some run off water that led to the community water well that is used to drink from, throughout this whole water cycle, the E. coli has been traveling through it undetected until the Walkerton tragedy where got 2500+ sick.
from the paragraph - 'At least seven people died directly from drinking the E. coli contaminated water, who might have been saved if the Walkerton Public Utilities Commission had admitted to contaminated water sooner, and about 2,500 became ill.' the data are startling, i can't believe due to the water pollution, E coli can grow at such an incredibly rapid speed and even bring people to death. In this way, the consciousness of protecting our living environment especially water resources has increased its level of importance!
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