In the Zone

摘要

The Justice O'Connor Inquiry into the May 2000 Walkerton water tragedy - in which seven people died and 2,300 became ill as a result of E. coli contamination ― resulted in the Advisory Committee on Watershed-based Source Protection Planning report, published in April 2003. The report provides detailed recommendations to protect Ontario's drinking water that will have a significant impact on the site assessment and remediation business. Ontario's new Minister of the Environment, Leona Dombrowski, has emphasized Ontario's commitment to protect groundwater resources and introduce laws to enhance protection of lands surrounding Ontario's water resources. While there are many priorities competing with environmental protection, there is now going to be a deliberate and methodical management of Ontario's water resources. Ontario's source water protection and remediation initia-tives are expected to influence other provincial standards.