Wake-Up Call For Walkerton

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Wake-Up Call For Walkerton
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Walkerton Scandal Sequence of Events (2000)
May 17 Residents complain of bloody diarrhea,
vomiting, cramps, fever -- classic symptoms of
Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacterial poisoning.
Tests of water sampled May 15 reveal E. coli
contamination. Water manager (Stan Koebel) fails
to notify public or public health office. First
signs show up in children (many fail to attend
school and two are admitted to hospital with
bloody diarrhea) May 19-21 Hundreds fall ill
Koebel fails to report knowledge of elevated E.
coli levels in water to health authorities.
Public utilities commission reports to public
that water is safe (based on information supplied
by Koebel)
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2000 May 21 Public health unit begins
independent water testing, issues boil-water
advisory. May 22 First death directly linked
to E. coli. May 23 Health unit tests reveal
water contaminated with deadly E. coli O157H7.
Two-year-old girl dies, more than 150 people seek
hospital treatment, another 500 complain of
symptoms. May 24 Medical officer of health,
Dr. Murray McQuigge, declares E. coli outbreak
Canada's worst. Two more die.
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2000 May 25 Fifth person dies. At least four
children in critical condition. McQuigge declares
tragedy preventable. Outside agency takes over
water system. Stan Koebel leaves town, goes on
sick leave. May 26 Tory Premier Mike Harris
denies government cuts to blame for tragedy,
points finger at changes made by previous NDP
government. Proposed class-action lawsuit
launched. OPP begin probe. May 29 Sixth death.
Province admits knowing for six years water
system flawed announces new rules to protect
drinking water. May 30 Seventh death.
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2000 May 31Under opposition pressure, Harris
orders public inquiry. June 2 Federal,
provincial governments announce financial aid for
those affected by outbreak. Aug. 26 New
drinking-water laws take effect. Oct. 16
Public inquiry under Justice Dennis O'Connor
begins. Nov. 15 Water utility's
secretary-treasurer tells inquiry that Stan
Koebel believed townspeople had food poisoning or
flu. Nov. 16 Province says Walkerton's water
clean, but leaves it to health unit to lift
boil-water advisory.
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2000 Nov. 17 Koebel resigns with 98,000
severance package. Nov. 30 Mayor David Thomson
bursts into tears at inquiry, recalling when he
learned Stan Koebel withheld crucial information
that might have curtailed the tragedy. Dec.
6-7 Frank Koebel, water foreman and Koebel's
brother, stuns inquiry with testimony about
drinking on the job and routine falsification of
safety tests (including falsification of water
sample locations), failure to properly monitor
chlorine levels in water. Dec. 18-20 Stan
Koebel testifies about his reasons for
falsification of safety tests and records, and
why he didn't alert authorities to E. coli in
water (partly in response to public complaints
about chlorine taste in water- but may have
been more to do with knowledge of a broken
chlorinator at well 7).
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Year 2001 Jan. 15 Court begins hearing request
to certify class-action suit. March 27
Province picks up 15 million tab for fixing
town's water. April 23 Walkerton council
agrees to pay Stan Koebel 82,000 for severance
and vacation plus 5,000 in legal costs. June
25 Dr. Richard Schabas, former medical officer
of health, testifies he repeatedly told the
government that funding cuts would compromise
public health. June 26 Brenda Elliott, former
environment minister, tells inquiry that the
government acted as a team when making decisions
around funding cuts.
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2001 June 27 Norm Sterling, also a former
environment minister, testifies he was assured by
his senior bureaucrats that any risks to public
health caused by layoffs and budget cuts were
manageable. June 29 Premier Mike Harris
testifies he was never warned of risks to human
health posed by funding cuts to the Environment
Ministry. July 3 Inquiry faces first challenge
when three local Environment Ministry officials
argue judge has no right to find fault with their
conduct. Judge dismisses challenge. Aug. 15-27
In closing submissions, lawyers defend their
clients, with government blaming Stan Koebel for
tragedy and Koebel saying blame must be spread to
individuals at higher levels.
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Year 2002 Jan. 14 O'Connor hands report to
government. Jan. 16 Some details of the report
are leaked to The Canadian Press. Jan. 17 The
Ontario government announces it will release the
first part of the report on Jan. 18, 2002, four
days ahead of schedule, because of the leak.
Jan. 18 The report is released in Walkerton.
It says the chain of events that led to the
disaster began Stan and Frank Koebel, two
brothers responsible for the town's water, and
was compounded by government budget cuts that
undermined the ability of the Ministry of the
Environment to pick up on the brothers'
shortcomings.
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Significant localities in case
After first signs of outbreak reported,
authorities at PUC assured public that water was
safe (based on info from Koebel)
Well 7 (chlorinator broken, but luckily, Water
uncontaminated)
Public utilities commission (where water was
tested)
(Toronto Star, May 2000)
Well 5 (contaminated well)
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What is Known ? Evidence
Water sampled immediately downline from well 5 on
May 15, 2000 tested positive for E. coli (as
mentioned previously, Koebel failed to report
this) Most likely source of E. coli
contamination cattle manure
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Water sampled on May 23, 2000 from well 5
consistently tested positive for E. coli (strain
O157H7) whereas other the wells negative (so
contamination sourced to one location) DNA
typing indicating a match between strains of
bacteria (C. jejuni and E. coli) in contaminated
water supply and at a farm near well 5.
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How did contaminated water get into the town
water supply in the first place ?
Torrential downpours between May 8 and 12, 2000
washed bacteria from cattle manure into well 5.
Most people probably infected on May 12 when
rainfall was highest and E. coli had reached
critical concentrations. Note Farmer who owned
farm near well 5 was deemed innocent of any
wrongdoing as he followed accepted guidelines for
spreading of manure
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Long before scandal, geological circumstances
indicated that Walkerton water supply was at
great risk of contamination. Government-approved
wells 3, 6 and 7 lie on thin, permeable deposits
of sand and gravel atop very permeable limestone
(also, well 5 near a high-risk area).
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Recent Developments
   
Frank and Stan Koebel, the two brothers at the
centre of Walkerton's water tragedy, pleaded
guilty to common nuisance on Nov. 30,
2004. Common nuisance failure to carry out a
legal duty and endangers the lives, safety,
health, property or comfort of the public. Judge
O'Connor also stated that Ontario's Conservative
government was partly to blame for failing to
properly assess the risks attached to its
cost-cutting measures in the area of ensuring
acceptable water quality .
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December 20, 2004 - Sentencing Stan Koebel
sentenced to 1 year in jail (received greater
blame on account of delaying boil water
advisory). Frank Koebel was sentenced to 6
months house arrest and 3 months night curfews.
April 8, 2005 Koebel Granted Parole Stan
Koebel granted parole (serving less than 4 months
of 1 year sentence). Parole granted early parole
on grounds that Koebel was a first-time offender
and had shown remorse.
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So
Aside from the wrongdoing of Koebel, and
Conservative government greater care should have
been taken to choose water well sites. Wells
drilled into areas underlain by permeable soil,
sediment and bedrock are highly prone to surface
contamination. Rudimentary knowledge of geology
can go a long way in preventing disasters like
this!
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And yetas of November, 2005
Following evacuations of Kashechewan in northern
Ontario in late 2005 (due medical problems
associated with water contamination), it has been
found that 37 native reserve communities (out of
a total of 123) are currently on boil water
advisories in Ontario. Many of the medical
problems (including skin disorders) are related
to the huge amounts of chlorine used to treat
bacteria in the contaminated water (and the
treatment plants tend not to run
efficiently). Conservative Leader Stephen Harper
called Indian Affairs Minister Andy Scott
"incompetent for his slow action on the matter
(here we go again) .
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END OF LECTURE