OTTAWA, ONTARIO — (Marketwire) — 09/20/12 — Lack of transparency was one of of the major causes of the Walkerton E.coli tragedy in 2000. Lack of transparency was also deplored yesterday by Ontario–s Environment Commissioner, Gordon Miller, at the release of his annual report. What is the state of transparency in Ontario 12 years after Walkerton?
Intrigued about how few boil water advisories were publicly reported in Ontario, The Water Chronicles sought answers from the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care responsible for advisories in the province since 2007.
The response provided by the ministry–s media relations department was received a week later and based on month-old data. It simply stated that there were a total of 266 Boil Water Advisories in effect across Ontario, as of August 24, 2012, but that “The Ministry does not currently post reports of advisory notices on its website. “
Ontario has reportedly implemented a sophisticated web-based data management system for local Boards of Health to report information pertaining to drinking water advisory notices, but the information is not available to the general public. This suggests that the province is recording and posting boil water advisories online but for its eyes only.
For more information, read our article
The Water Chronicles– also provide daily updates on water advisories across Canada.
The is an online media dedicated to all things water . It has published water advisories since 2006. The site at water.ca also reports on lakes, rivers, municipalities and the Arctic.
Contacts:
Bob Brouse
613-670-5746
Sean Aylward
613-670-5771