"There are at least 20 communities around this province where E. coli has been detected in water supplies," said Sweeney. "There may be many more but the provincial government has not been doing the level of testing that would detect these serious problems in other communities. Have we learned any lessons from the Walkerton tragedy?"

The issue of E. coli in water supplies arose this week in the House of Assembly when it was discovered that the community of Lawn on the Burin Peninsula had the bacteria in their water. E. coli contamination was the same problem as in Walkerton, Ontario where several people died after the town’s water supply was not properly managed.

"We have people in this province using water who are not aware that it could contain E. coli. Close to 300 communities have boil orders, but I am not sure if government has done enough to impress upon people the seriousness of this problem. The people in Lawn only discovered the seriousness of the problem when they paid for a private company to test their water.

"Given the extent of the problems that have already been identified, the government should immediately test all water supplies in the province. We should also be moving in the direction of having a special program that ensures people in rural communities around this province are able to provide clean water to the people who live in their communities."