The Ohio State Journal January 15, 1949Reprinted with permission of the Associated Press, May 27, 2000, The Columbus Dispatch
Purifying Plant Fails-Suspect Sewer Leakage
More than 1000 residents of Loudonville were made ill last week by contaminated water-possibly sewage-and some have not yet recovered, the State Health Department disclosed last night.
A state sanitary engineer said the Ashland County village's water purifying machinery broke down early last week.
Dr. John Porterfield, state health inspector, said there is "a good possibility" a sewer line leaked into one of the wells which furnishes Loudonville's water.
The village is about 65 miles northeast of Columbus on the 3 Cs Highway. It has a population of about 2500.
Dr. Porterfield said the bacteria has not been identified. He expects a report from the state laboratories on its type and origin today or "Monday at the latest."
The victims suffered nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Most of them have recovered but a number still require treatment by a physician, he said.
An Upper Arlington couple who drank from a Loudonville well a week ago yesterday were made ill. The husband has recovered, but his wife is still under their doctor's care, the husband told The Ohio State Journal.
Dr. C. B. Meuser, Ashland County health officer, said that as of Wednesday there were no new cases. After testing samples of the water he said there was no sign of typhoid infection.
About 200 of Loudonville's 850 school children were absent last Friday and the Flexible Co., builder of bus and ambulance bodies and the only major industry there, had many absentees because of illness.
The deaths of five people have been traced to the water supply of a small
Ontario town.
By Tom Cohen Associated Press
Toronto-Police yesterday launched an investigation into one of North America's worst E. coli outbreaks as residents of a small Ontario town buried the first of five people killed by the bacteria contaminating the local water supply.
The confluence of grief and finger-pointing came a day after Ontario provincial officials took control of the water supply in Walkerton, a farm town of 5,000 people about 90 miles west of Toronto, where hundreds have been sickened since last week with the intestinal bacteria.
The investigation will focus in part on why the local Public Utility Commission did not immediately notify health authorities that water from town wells was contaminated.
Mayor David Thomson of the Brockton municipality, which includes Walkerton, said the general manager of the Public Utility Commission-which provides water and electricity to the town-has acknowledged that the commission was aware of the problem May 18.
Thomson said Thursday that the utility failed to tell his office or health authorities, even after a local health official issued a boil order for the water supply Sunday following reports from doctors of bloody diarrhea. The health officer said he had asked the utility commission three times if the water was clean and was told it was.
Jim Kieffer, chairman of the utility commission, said utility workers may have been unaware of how dangerous E. coli could be.
Superintendent Richard Kotwa of the Ontario Provincial Police said a police investigation into the E. coli contamination began yesterday with interviews of officials and gathering of documents.
"It's not a criminal investigation at this point," Kotwa said. "It could be later."
Ontario Premier Mike Harris visited Walkerton yesterday and said at an outdoor news conference that "Every aspect of this, from every level of government, will be looked at."
Harris left without answering a question yelled by Veronica Davidson, a Walkerton resident who said she wanted the premier to say exactly what would be done to fix the problem.
Issue: Drinking water must be free of disease-causing bacteria, parasites,
and other pathogens.
Have you heard of any other communities where people have become sick from drinking
the water?
How likely is the contamination of drinking water in your community with disease-causing
organisms?
The U.S. Congress responded to people getting sick from drinking water in
this way:
They instructed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to:
The Ohio Legislature has accepted primary enforcement responsibility for federal safe drinking water laws. To maintain "primacy," Ohio must adopt and enforce drinking water regulations at least as stringent as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has been given the authority for carrying out these responsibilities by the Ohio Legislature (ORC 6109.03).
Ohio has adopted rules for special treatment techniques, filtration, and disinfection of all streams, lakes, and microbiologically contaminated groundwater. Ohio's vigilance has prevented any water borne disease outbreak with a public water system since the 1940s.