A day when families were drawn to Walkerton to celebrate their mothers, just as they always had, just like countless other communities. Ironically, that’s when the word ‘mother’ took on a tragic meaning for many people in this community. Suspecting nothing, they gathered in area restaurants and homes, visiting, eating and drinking water. While they laughed and talked, sharing gifts, cards and Mother’s Day hugs, something was already beginning to destroy their insides: Escherichia coli 0157:H7. Such a clinical name for bacteria that have such a basic plan of attack."
 

"Usually only a few people turned out for regular inquiry testimony, but the room was crowded when Stan Koebel testified. That was the day people were waiting for. Stan was at the center of the scandal. He knew things others didn’t. He was pale, expressionless, composed. While being filmed during a break in proceedings, he did manage to wink at his family. Stan’s wife and daughter then retreated to the washroom, away from the glare of the media throng. The stress was evident in their faces. They spoke in hushed, nervous tones as if at a funeral."
 

"Residents grew weary and skeptical of the media attention; microphones were shoved in their faces, cameras clicked at random and satellite trucks invaded their streets. Reporters flocked outside the municipal office, staking their territory."
 

"Crilly had a theory that went deeper than ground water. She suspected that unknown oil wells beneath Walkerton had contaminated the area’s water for years. Test wells were drilled in 1903, she pointed out. She also wondered about area factories and their potential pollutants. The Maple Leaf chicken plant had closed in 1998 and a spool and bobbin factory went out of business 10 years earlier. (It happened to be the same year some Walkerton area children were born with defects.) Spool and bobbin employees had testified that the company had spread its waste in the area."
 

"The hospital was packed with people and they brought him in. Meanwhile, he was puking and he had the diarrhea all over the place. So he laid down right in front of the reception desk on the floor and the floor was full of stains. At this stage, people didn’t know if they were going to die or what. They didn’t know. But the kids themselves didn’t have control of it. So the floor was filthy and he was laying on the floor. The nurse was sitting there not really doing much."
 

"Our houses are worth nothing now!" he called out just after Attorney General Jim Flaherty announced the government’s compensation plan. "We had a ‘For Sale’ sign on our lawn. We may as well burn it!" he stormed as reporters swarmed, clicking cameras at politicians, grasping mini tape recorders and scribbling notes."
 

"The role the agriculture industry played in the Walkerton water tragedy was a direct, controversial one. This was an area the media and the public had either overlooked or downplayed."