The Walkerton water tragedy has cost the Ontario government 69 million dollars under the “Walkerton Compensation Plan.”
It was set up in 2001 in response to the contaminated water disaster which claimed several lives and made hundreds of Walkerton residents sick in 2000.
The Government of Ontario committed to providing financial support and
compensation to any individuals who became sick or lost loved ones or otherwise
incurred certain out-of-pocket expenses or losses, because of contaminated water in Walkerton.
The project manager for the Walkerton Compensation plan, Kim Chalmers tells Bayshore Broadcasting News there are now less than 100 files that remain open.
Just over 10 thousand claims were filed in Stage one of the process, and 6,772 were filed in Stage Two.
Chalmers says everyone who filed a claim has received a response and most have received partial or full payment of their claim.
At this point — the Walkerton compensation plan has paid out 69 million dollars including 15 million in the Stage one process.
Chalmers says every case is different and not all met the criteria of Stage Two in the process.
She hopes the remaining open files are dealt with in the next few months.