By Greg Grisolano

ggrisolano@joplinglobe.com

The mother of a Joplin boy who drowned at a local water park this summer said she hopes state legislators will act quickly to impose new regulations on for-profit private water parks that would require the owners to carry a minimum $1 million liability insurance policy.

“We know it’s a long process, but there’s absolutely no reason not to change it,” said Lauren Cory, whose six-year old son Ethan Cory drowned on a field trip to the Swimmin’ Hole on July 17. “All this is going to do is protect children.”

Dubbed “Ethan’s Law,” House Bill 1341 would require the owner of a for-profit, privately owned swimming pool to maintain at least $1 million in the event of injury or death of a patron.

The bill is being sponsored by Rep. Marilyn Ruestman, whose district includes the Swimmin’ Hole, and has co-sponsorship from several area representatives, including Rep. Bryan Stevenson, Rep. Ed Emery, and Rep. Kevin Wilson.

Ruestman called Ethan’s drowning “a very tragic incident” and said she plans to make this bill her top priority when the Legislature convenes on Jan. 9.

“I’d like to get it assigned immediately,” she said. “We should see action on it as early as February.”

If approved by both houses and signed by the governor, the bill would be the first state law in Missouri providing some sort of regulatory oversight for privately owned, for-profit water parks that are not already part of a theme park.

Ruestman said the goal of the legislation is to get insurance companies underwriting the policy to be responsible for regulating the safety of those parks.

“If we mandate the liability insurance, the insurance companies will inspect them because they will be liable,” she said. “This is the best way to get legislation through that doesn’t open it up to every public and private facility in the state.”

Municipal pools, hotel pools and water rides in theme parks already have oversight in place. But pools, such as the Swimmin’ Hole, operating outside a municipality and privately owned, fall into a narrow oversight exception.

A wrongful-death lawsuit has been filed on behalf of Ethan Cory’s parents against the Boys and Girls Club of Joplin, which was supervising Ethan and the other children on the trip, and the water park’s owners, James and Diane Burt.

Court records filed in connection with the suit indicated the Burts did not maintain liability insurance on the water park.

When reached Friday, James Burt initially said he had no comment, before saying that the aim of the proposed legislation was to drive him out of business, and he was being singled out by the Corys and their attorney, Ed Hershewe.

Burt said liability insurance would cost him $72,000 annually, and he would not be able to afford to operate the park at that rate.

When asked if he thought it would be beneficial for him as a businessman to carry the insurance, Burt said, “Not really. I don’t have anything more to say.”

While Ruestman acknowledged there were “not very many” such parks as the Swimmin’ Hole in the state, she questioned whether having liability insurance would be a detriment to the business owners.

“I think this is something that would protect both the public and the person who owns the facility,” she said. “This would cover serious incidents, but it might also cover less serious things.”

The bill also includes a provision that “gives it some teeth,” according to Ruestman. For each day an owner is in violation of the statute, they would be subject to a $100 fine and or one day in jail.

Lauren Cory said her family is pleased with the effort being made by state legislators, but said she believes similar legislation should be looked at on a national level.

“I’d like to see this become a federal statute,” she said. “There are a lot of states that have these regulations in place, but there are some states that don’t have any regulations at all. Ethan’s not the only child that this has happened to.”



Body found in deep water

Another child on the trip found Ethan’s body submerged in 5 feet of water, the shallow end of a pool that sloped to a depth of 12 feet at the water park. The boy was one of 34 children attending a Boys and Girls Club of Joplin field trip at the water park on the outskirts of Joplin in Newton County.

An investigation of the boy’s death by the Newton County Sheriff’s Department said neither the club nor the water park personnel provided the children with adequate supervision.