the walkerton tragedy is a series of events that accompanied the contamination of the water supply of walkerton, ontario, canada, by escherichia coli bacteria in may 2000. ==summary== walkerton is a relatively small community. at the time of the event in may 2000, stan koebel was utilities manager and frank koebel was water foreman. neither had any formal training in this position, retaining their jobs through three decades of on-the-job experience. the water supply became contaminated with the highly dangerous o157:h7 strain of e. coli bacteria, from farm runoff into an adjacent well that had been known for years to be vulnerable to contamination. starting 11 may 2000, many people of the community of about 5,000 people began to simultaneously experience bloody 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 21 may, an escalation in the number of patients with similar symptoms finally spurred the region's medical officer of health, murray mcquigge, to issue a boil water advisory, warning residents not to drink the tapwater. 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. an experimental drug in phase iii clinical trials, synsorb pk, was used to treat 19 children on compassionate grounds under health canada's special access program. 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, as a beer fridge did exist at the facility.cbc news: inside walkerton reference for the preceding three paragraphs: cbc news in depth: inside walkerton 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. no provincial government politician was charged or found guilty of wrongdoing in setting the policies that resulted in 
2000_health_disasters 2000_in_Canada Bruce_County Disasters_in_Ontario Escherichia_coli_outbreaks Food_and_drink_in_Canada Health_disasters_in_Canada Medical_outbreaks_in_Canada Ontario_political_scandals Water_supply_and_sanitation_in_Canada