The Walkerton E-coli drinking water tragedy that left seven people dead and thousands sick exactly a decade ago this long weekend, forced Ontario into the vanguard of tap-water safety.
The head of the Canadian Environmental Law Association says before the May 2000 outbreak, oversight had fallen apart.
But now, Theresa McClenaghan says Ontario has a very good system.
Now untrained operators can’t run water systems as those in charge in Walkerton and in many other communities did before the tragedy.
No longer does Ontario’s Environment Ministry of Environment inspect water systems on a haphazard basis and just ask nicely for problems to be corrected.
Today, Walkerton with its population of five-thousand, is alive and well — perhaps even stronger than ever.
Michael McIntee, who owns a local real estate company, says Walkerton has rebounded.
Homes sell for an average of 187-thousand dollars — up from about 93-thousand just before the crisis crippled the town.
But for some, the future still remains blighted by the past.
Kody Hammell got very sick in May 2000 and has never fully recovered — an ongoing struggle his mom says people should not forget.
About 100 of the town’s residents will require lifelong medication to control high blood pressure and other health-problems caused by the contaminated tapwater.
