Sludge Watch ==> Ontario: Walkerton victims still waiting for compensation

[Maureen Reilly]

Sludgewatch Admin:

The Ontario gov't hired a law firm to drip feed compensation claims 
toWalkerton victims.  Many claims are still outstanding.  As one Walkerton 
victim says: "They don't give a rat's rectum about us".

And in the case in question below research done by the physician heading up 
the Walkerton clinic himself finds that diabetes is an outcome for many kids 
who had kidney damage from drinking the fecally contaminated municipal 
water.
But still the kid's claim goes uncompensated.

see:Diabetes During Diarrhea-Associated Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome

http://care.diabetesjournals.org/cgi/content/full/28/10/2556



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CANADA: Walkerton E. coli kid now has diabetes; harried parents still await 
compensation
09.mar.08
The Canadian Press


http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5ivaJYB6R-BxmihNBGpzlaYyfPn6g


HANOVER, Ont. — Eight years ago, Kody Hammell's blood-stained diaper was 
among the first signs that one of Canada's worst-ever public health 
disasters was unfolding.
Kody would soon go into kidney failure, the result of drinking E. 
coli-poisoned tap water at home in Walkerton, Ont.

After weeks of agony for both child and parents, the child pulled through 
and seemed, over the years, to have largely mended, despite bouts of poor 
health and constant watchfulness for signs of permanent kidney damage.

In November, he fell ill.

Mother Tracey Hammell was cited as saying that a visit to the local 
emergency department led to an all-too familiar ambulance trip to London, 
Ont., where doctors discovered he had developed Type 1 diabetes, adding, "It 
was a pretty stressful time."

Now nine years old and in Grade 4, Kody needs four insulin needles a day. 
Along with school and hockey games, he checks his blood sugar constantly and 
keeps a strict diet. The worry about his kidneys is pervasive, the prognosis 
uncertain.


To date, a government-backed compensation plan has paid out more than $65 
million but the Hammells have seen little of the promised help.
Hammell was quoted as saying,"This is ridiculous. It will be eight years in 
May and we still haven't received a thing. We're spending a fortune on meds 
and accommodations when we go to London and what not. Something has got to 
happen here soon."
Hammell is not alone. While 6,700 personal claims have been settled and more 
than $14 million paid out for illness, 200 others with more serious claims 
have yet to receive settlements.


Getting help has been a struggle since Kody first fell ill in May 2000, when 
E. coli-laden water poisoned Walkerton's municipal water system.
The story says that even requests for modest reimbursements for 
out-of-pocket expenses - constant travel to London to see specialists for 
example - seemed to be greeted with hostility at the now-closed claims 
office Crawford and Co. (Canada) set up in Walkerton to administer the 
compensation plan, Hammell said.
Now there's a new battle: proving Kody's diabetes is related to the E. coli 
poisoning that arose from the tainted water in May 2000.
Global medical literature does document cases of diabetes arising several 
years after a bout of hemolytic uremic syndrome or kidney failure but 
proving a definitive link, even on the balance of probabilities, is tricky.

"We're not looking to say no," said John Taylor, a spokesman for Crawford.

"Our philosophy is to evaluate these (claims) as objectively and fairly as 
fully as possible to make sure the applicant has had every opportunity to 
establish their case."
Still, Crawford said "sometimes we're going to need a whole pile of 
information in order to deal with some of these more tenuous issues, like 
causation and what condition follows what condition."
The Hammells, in common with some other claimants, suspect they've been 
pushed into a war of attrition by Crawford, which has received more than $13 
million for its services from the province, according to figures obtained by 
The Canadian Press.

Many of Walkerton's businesses - where only half the claims have been 
settled - also complain bitterly about what they see as lowball offers, 
stonewalling, and an inability to get responses from Crawford.


Walkerton businesses get short shrift


Businesses in Walkerton complain they have yet to receive fair compensation 
for their losses related to the E. coli tragedy in 2000. Some facts about 
the government-sponsored compensation plan that settled a class-action suit:


Class members: 9,252

Initial payout: $15.2 million

Water disruption: $14.9 million

Illness: $14.5 million

Legal fees incurred by applicants: $6.4 million

Prejudgment interest: $6.3 million

Family Law Act damages: $2.4 million

Business income loss:

$601,000

Business value diminution: $13,000

Total payout to date: $65.5 million


Source: Crawford Canada

The Canadian Press





Store owners say plan to compensate victims of tainted water disaster 
overlooks their plight

Feb 18, 2008 04:30 AM
Colin Perkel
THE CANADIAN PRESS
More than $65 million has been paid so far to the victims of Canada's worst 
E. coli tragedy, but businesses hit hard by the crisis say they have seen 
little of the promised compensation – and some blame crass politics for 
their plight.


Eight years after poisoned water devastated the Ontario town of Walkerton, 
disgruntled proprietors are complaining bitterly of insulting lowball offers 
and stonewalling that has forced them either to settle in disgust or seethe 
quietly as they wait to settle their claims.

Latest figures obtained by The Canadian Press show a total of $65.5 million 
has been paid to more than 9,200 individual claimants. A further $13 million 
has been paid to Crawford and Co. (Canada), the adjusters overseeing the 
compensation plan under the auspices of the courts.

However, only 48 out of 100 business claims have been settled for a total of 
$600,000 – less than 1 per cent of the overall payout to date.

"What they did to the businesses is screw them over big time," said Ken 
Strucke, co-owner of T.K.'s Deli and Pizzeria on Walkerton's main street, 
who feels he was bullied into settling for $5,000.

"I have ulcers now. It wasn't our fault. We didn't ask for this stuff."

In the aftermath of the May 2000 tragedy that killed seven people and 
sickened 2,500 others in the rural town of 5,000, the provincial government 
settled a class-action lawsuit by setting up a compensation plan, with 
taxpayers footing most of the bill.

The promise was a fair and quick way to compensate victims without costly 
legal battles. For most personal claims, such as for illness and death, that 
has been the case.

Businesses, however, beg to differ.

"We're still waiting for our money," said Mary Ann Kroetsch, co-owner of K's 
Kountry Kitchen, which now employs just six people, down from 12 when the E. 
coli-tainted water seeped into the town's well.

"It's a sad situation. I should be retired. My husband is 75 years old this 
year and he's still working."

The diner was forced to spend $8,000 just to buy clean water during the 
crisis and the couple used their savings to stay open, said Kroetsch, her 
voice catching.

In January 2007, she turned down a settlement offer of $3,000, saying 
$15,000 plus interest would be more fair. She hasn't heard a word since, she 
said.

John Taylor, Crawford's project manager for the Walkerton plan, blamed the 
delays on deficient documentation from claimants.

"We're not trying to hold people to an unreasonably high standard in regards 
to proving a claim," Taylor said. "We're very anxious to resolve all of 
these outstanding claims. There's absolutely no benefit for anyone to sit 
around pondering."

Taylor said 25 business claims have been withdrawn or dealt with some other 
way, leaving 27 – more than a quarter of the claims – under "active" case 
management.

Strucke said adjusters initially offered him nothing.

"They said I didn't lose no business," he said. "So I fought with them. I 
ended up getting five grand."

Taylor said claims are formally assessed with the help of accountants. "We 
don't make offers to take a bargaining position," he said. ``We're not 
trying to turn this into a negotiation."

Still, some owners feel forced onto the losing end of a war of attrition.

Wayne Holman, owner of flooring store Grey-Bruce Interiors, said his 
accountant pegged his business losses at about $200,000, but adjusters 
blamed increased competition, not the water crisis.

Holman suspects the Liberal government has washed its hands of the issue 
because the town voted a Conservative into the provincial Legislature.

"The Liberals don't give a rat's rectum about us."

The government is simply respecting a court-supervised process, said an aide 
in the premier's office.

Randy Bennett, who monitors administration of the plan for Ontario Superior 
Court, also cited incomplete claimant documentation as the major reason 
business claims are taking so long.

"It's not my impression that there have been inordinate delays," Bennett 
said, adding that two claims are slated for arbitration, with the first to 
take place in May.

Mark Barranger, an accountant in Priceville, Ont., who helped a former 
farm-equipment dealer file a claim years ago, said adjusters responded with 
dozens of questions.

"It's been a year since we sent in the last pile of information they wanted 
and I haven't heard a damn thing," Barranger said.

http://www.thestar.com/article/304495