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Tragedy Could Have Been Prevented
Author(s) -
Crude Steve E.,
Walker Richard
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
opflow
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1551-8701
pISSN - 0149-8029
DOI - 10.1002/j.1551-8701.2005.tb01806.x
Subject(s) - blame , tragedy (event) , government (linguistics) , outbreak , waterborne diseases , environmental health , medicine , business , public relations , public administration , political science , pathology , philosophy , psychiatry , linguistics
This article discusses the aftermath of the E. coli outbreak in the Walkerton, Ontario, Canada municipal drinking water system in May 2000 that caused seven deaths and more than 2,300 cases of waterborne disease. The system operators admitted that they failed to perform monitoring and treatment, withheld adverse monitoring results, and falsified operating records. However, the article states they were not solely to blame because the inquiry found that severe and systemic deficiencies in the operator training and regulatory systems of the Ontario government contributed to the tragedy. The article focuses on the roles and responsibilities of the water system operators and what actions they should have taken to prevent the tragedy.