Well of Lies: The Walkerton Water Tragedy

By Colin N. Perkel

This is the story of a system that failed utterly, at almost every level, and with fatal effect. People died, hundreds of others were made horribly sick, and for days, no one knew what was happening, or why. There were rumours about the water, but the Public Utilities Commission blandly assured callers that the water was okay. Which left investigators trying to figure out if the problem was tainted food or something else. Colin Perkel was among the first reporters to visit Walkerton when word finally got out that the water was poisoned. Using the interviews he conducted and the testimony given to the Walkerton Inquiry, Perkel has pieced together an authoritative and riveting account of the tragedy. He tells the story from the point of view of the people who lived through it. He shows how the virtues of a small town its closeness, loyalty, tradition, and sense of community contributed to the disaster. He shows how two brothers, Stan and Frank Koebel, were sustained by those virtues despite their own limitations. He provides a day-by-day account of the epidemic itself, the moments of heroism and good sense, and the instances of incompetence, wilful blindness, and plain stupidity. A few heroes do emerge: the pediatrician who was thoughtful and worried enough to raise the alarm; the investigator who worked feverishly through a holiday weekend to find the source of the poison; even perhaps the reporter at the local radio station who broadcast the boil-water advisory. Neither the politicians at any level nor the bureaucrats in the Department of Environment and the health ministry come out very well. But Colin Perkel never loses sight of the fact that this story is about real people. And his account of what happened is always set in the context of the complicated lives of the people who lived through it. There are no villains in this story, but only flawed humans. This is a superb piece of reporting. It deals with a tragedy that might have occurred and might occur again in virtually any community in Canada.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0771070195
• ISBN13: 9780771070198
• Release Date: March 2002
• Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
• Length: 248 Pages
• Weight: 1.23 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A failure of trust

People are dying and Walkerton, the town so betrayed by those entrusted with its safety, is under siege. The safeguards that protect the public's health from disease in drinking water have failed, and the unthinkable has happened - undetected contamination in a treated municipal system. Accusations are flying as politicians and bureaucrats attempt to deflect blame. Caught in the crossfire is veterinarian David Biesanthal, whose farm is near one of the town's wells. A match has been found between bacteria in manure from his cattle and those in the tainted water. Biesenthal has barricaded himself against an intrusive media horde and is none too welcoming when a car breaches the defences across his driveway and a stranger emerges. "Who the hell are you?" Biesenthal demands of the man who walks toward him. "I'm Peter Raymond," the man replies. "My daughter passed away from E. coli. We just wanted to tell you we don't hold you responsible." The father of the youngest victim of the E.coli scourge, 2-year-old Mary Rose, reaching out to a beleaguered farmer - two ordinary people caught up in a monumental tragedy and coping as best they can. It's an affecting moment of simple humanity in Colin Perkel's Well of Lies, which tracks the Walkerton tragedy from its true beginnings, more than 30 years ago, through the fearful days of May, 2000, to the high drama of the subsequent judicial inquiry. The tale follows the families of victims to the London hospital where life and death struggles take place. The virulent toxins produced by the E.coli 0157:h7 bacterium ravage tissue and organs. Seven die in agony, all elderly women except for Mary Rose. Perkel tracks the political machinations in Toronto, where simple humanity takes a back seat as the Tories fight to limit the political fallout from the tragedy. But the real focus of this account is a cast of characters that took centre stage in the national consciousness for two years as the tragedy played out. Stan and Frank Koebel, the bumbling brothers at the helm of the Walkerton public utility commission. Dave Thomson, the curiously detached mayor of Brockton (of which Walkerton is part). Murray McQuigge, the combative medical officer of health. New light is shed on utility manager Stan Koebel, an apparently mild-mannered man who testified under heavy sedation before Mr. Justice Dennis O'Connor, but revealed here as a petty and autocratic boss - except when it came to utility foreman Frank, who defied his older sibling with impunity. It's clear that Thomson and McQuigge, two men who could not be more unlike but shared one important characteristic - a steely ego - were headed on a collision course long before the crisis. Perkel uses the wealth of information from exhaustive testimony to the inquiry to portray his characters' inner thoughts and private actions. It's an effective device that moves the story right along.It's a well-organized narrative and Perkel has an easy style and eye for the telling detail: the p

What critics are saying . . .

-Maclean's Magazine"... a step-by-step account that combines the narrative drive of a thriller with the inevitability of a Greek tragedy." Quill & Quire"...well researched and evocative study..." Toronto Star"...should be required reading for all who care about democracy and the environment." Globe and Mail"...an important chronicle of one of the worst public-health tragedies in Canadian history." Canadian Geographic"...a well-written, thorough examination of a truly hair-raising ordeal."