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62. The Well (Walkerton E. coli outbreak)

Unprecedented rainfall in a small Ontario township leads to a public health disaster.

Prelude: Thousands fall ill after attending the Washington County Fair in New York.

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Original music for Swindled is written and performed by Trevor Howard (Deformr).

62. The Well (Walkerton E. coli outbreak)

Comments

Geezus... can't trust anyone

Haley Ashton

Public health disaster should be your clue

J K

As a fellow Canadian, all the different levels of governments handling of water issues are subpar and bleak. It makes me so sad and frustrated that their are still First Nations communities without clean drinking water

Carroll Leigh C

Exactly.

Carroll Leigh C

Hello SwampQueen, I am from London, ON. You close by?

Carroll Leigh C

As a Canadian, it is a disgrace that our First Nations communities suffer without clean drinking water. All governments should be shamed for their inaction. Cheers Marianne from London, ON

Carroll Leigh C

🇨🇦🇺🇸 I live in the Province of Ontario where the Walkerton water scandal occurred. Shameful as are all these type of scandals. I live off well water and have paid handsomely to ensure my water is privately treated by equipment that I have purchased and maintain.

Carroll Leigh C

Always a fan, and I know that there is a warning at the beginning advising listener discretion but could have done with a trigger warning for death of a toddler at the beginning.

Lollypops

Investigate what’s happening with 3M in Decatur Alabama. Brookhaven middle school

Kathleen Davis

The Washington story was heart wrenching. The Walkerton ‘incident’ was a huge story here in Ontario. Everyone was sickened especially when the political involvement came to light. The brothers did get off easy. It just shows we trust without question. I can’t even talk about the severance pay they received vs the poor compensated given the families. The most satisfying for me was hearing Mike Harris slickly avoiding responsibility. The winning blow was the tie-in with Doug Ford. Still here. Still the Premier. Still screwing over the citizens with funding cuts and general incompetence Thanks CC. I will share this

Swampqueen

Thank you for another amazing episode!! This was such a huge story when I was growing up. But this type of stuff is still happening across Canada. Our first Nation communities in the northern part of Ontario water is so bad that they can't even shower because the water is so bad.

Marianne Mac

It is a very sad episode, but what makes me particularly angry is that absolutely nothing in there surprised me in the slightest. The anatomy of these multiple fatality incidents is always the same. On the end note of the podcast, I think there is a strong possibility that history will repeat itself. As Dr Trevor Kletz (the originator of process safety) once said: "Organisations have no memory; only people have memories and they move on" This event started with cost cutting and it sounds like the government are once again trying to cut costs.

Shawjaws

This episode made me cry 😢 Not a fan. But it was a very well done episode, as usual.

Liz Leard

I grew up close & remember this disaster unfolding vividly. Cheers to CC for linking Mike Harris to Doug Ford. As a frustrated Canadian it’s very affirming to have someone from the outside call the same bullshit you see. Shoutout to the commenter above who mentioned tainted water in First Nations communities across the province/country. This is still a problem in marginalized communities.

Craig Proulx

So sad, and such tragic deaths over something stupid. FYI, ACC, Escherichia is pronounced Esch-reek-kia. I learned that in microbiology class. Nasty little fuckers

Amy Harber

Heartbreaking, then and now.

Brian S

Another dirty, salty, juicy show ❤

Jennifer Furneaux

As a Canadian you did a fabulous job of capturing the implications of the story including the fast forward to Doug Ford. Shit show.

Carmen

Props to Canada for allowing assisted suicide, though.

Nathan de Rover

I'm not crying you're crying!

Georgia Torres

Agreed.

FleurDeLee

People who want to cut or privatize environmental regulations to save money are wild to me. It's like saying you don't want to brush your teeth because toothpaste is too expensive, except instead of ending up needing to get expensive dental work done after a few years, you destroy your habitat and people die.

Jonas

Aren't we all just a little bit in love with Monotone Man?

Tianna

I live in Walkerton! Can’t wait to listen. It was a shit show here when it happened.

Tracey Tanner

15 minutes from the fair grounds. And I work at AMC. Coworkers who worked there during this time say it was horrible.

Marcie

Or as we used to say when we were young: skin-neck-tiddy. Lol. (Hand gestures included of course).

Marcie

OMG I live in Washington Cty. I wondered if this would get brought up. Such a tragedy.

Marcie

My god that intro is heart breaking

Greg Howes

I remember this tragedy. I’m Canadian and listening to this is another reminder that we still have over 30 First Nations communities without access to safe drinking water. People don’t actually think we are caring and polite anymore do they?

Lex

This happened 2 towns over from where I lived. I was in high school and we were affected by this with our water.

Stacey

I do remember hearing a little bit about this, but I was 15, so I also didn't know the extent of it. Thank you for your in depth reporting as always. It's a scary feeling sometimes, putting your faith in invisible societal mechanisms, and knowing that we're never all that far removed from history repeating itself.

Jenn

I must have heard it after ACC fixed it, because I was thinking the whole time, "For a Texan, he is pronouncing the HELL out of all this Dutch."

V.

Concerned Walkerton Citizens 😎 I remember the contamination stories of the '90s but never knew it was on *that* level.

Alan

I enjoyed the mispronunciation considering how sad of an episode this is 😔

Beep Boop

As an Ontarian, this is going to be an interesting listen. I was pretty young went this all went down but I remember the feeling that something bad was happening

Anna

Well this one was a doozy for Earth Day

Summer Gnage

No worries. Us Upstate schmucks are the only ones who'll notice.

P Reilly

Will fix!

Swindled

Polite tip: Schenectady is pronounced "skɪ-NECK-tah-dee"

P Reilly

me rn 😭😭

Melissa Stone

I never know if I should listen right away, or save it for tomorrow 😭

Nae


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