An outbreak of E. coli in Minnesota has been linked to celery grown in Gonzales, but the attorney representing many of the sickened people said Thursday that he is not, yet, targeting the grower.

According to a recently released report by the Minnesota Department of Health, 57 people were sickened and nine were hospitalized. The victims were members of a band of the Lake Superior Chippewa called Fond du Lac. Fortunately, none of the victims developed a potentially deadly kidney condition common to the identified strain: E. coli O157:H7, according to documents obtained from the MDH.

MDH found that the most common food items were the celery and onions. Potato salad, which included celery and onions, was found to be tainted with E. coli O157:H7. Cases were also identified at events where potato salad was not served, but celery was. The celery was traced back to a field adjacent to a defunct dairy operation near Gonzales, according to the MDH.

MDH concluded that the common server at five Fond du Lac events – including an Elder picnic and a wedding ceremony – between July 1 and July 17 on the reservation was Jim-N-Joe’s Northland Katering. The catering business produced invoices showing the celery was purchased from Upper Lakes Foods Inc., which provided bills of lading from Pro*Act, a Vancouver produce distributor, and Salinas-based Mann Packing.

The two distributors worked together to identify the “field of interest,” and the celery was traced back to Martignoni Ranch block 5c outside of Gonzales. Aerial views of the field show it butting up against a dairy operation, which Bill Marler, the attorney for several of the victims, described as “defunct.”

But a call placed to the dairy, M and M Dairy Inc., and to Rocci Martignoni, who is listed as president of M and M, was not immediately returned Thursday. But inspectors for the California Department of Public Health took water and soil samples from the field and did not find the pathogen.

Michael Needham, chief of the Emergency Response Unit for the California Health Department, said Thursday that his understanding was that no E.coli was discovered on the farm, but added that his report is not yet complete.

Because there is no scientific smoking gun connecting the celery in the potato salad to the farm the celery was grown on, Marler said he is reluctant to file a lawsuit against Martignoni. He is, however, filing a lawsuit against the caterer.

“I don’t feel like I have enough evidence to bring a lawsuit against the celery grower,” Marler said Thursday from his Seattle office. “But that may change as discovery proceeds and new evidence surfaces.”