Dave Matthews - Getting Sued for Dumping In River

[gitreel]

Dave Matthews - stinks up river and gets sued
Posted by leflaw on August 25, 2004 at 10:43 AM (printer friendly)

What happens on a rock star's tour bus generally stays there, but the Dave Matthews Band's dirt made a public appearance earlier this month in Chicago.

The band is being sued by the state of Illinois for allegedly dumping up to 800 pounds of liquid human waste from its bus into the Chicago River on August 8, according to The Associated Press.

The suit, filed Tuesday, claims that a boat with more than 100 people on an architecture tour was soaked with sewage when the driver emptied the bus' septic tank through the Kinzie Street bridge's metal grating into the river. According to the AP, the attorney general's office said no one was seriously injured by the falling waste, and the boat's captain quickly took the ship back to shore and handed out refunds to passengers before disinfecting the boat.

Dave Matthews Band spokesperson John Vlautin said of the incident, "Our driver has stated that he was not involved in this incident," and added that the band "will continue to be cooperative in this investigation."

The lawsuit seeks $70,000 in civil penalties and charges the band and one of its drivers with violating state water-pollution and public-nuisance laws.

[adam]

Didn't they have a song out a few years ago titled, "Don't Drink the Water?" I guess now we know where that idea came from.

[Roundabout]

Already discussed here

Except at that time we didn't know who the guilty party was.
Now we know!

[Doramius]

First off, how'd they figure out who it was. Secondly, who was the person who pulled the release valve. Now the last tour bus I looked at had it's handle in the undercarriage and a box cover that had a lock on it. To release it while the bus is moving, someone has to be in the baggage compartment with the gate up. Maybe there's a switch on this bus at the driver's seat? It's usually not for safety reasons, related specifically to this. I think there may have been a switch malfunction. But I don't see anything talking about it.

[ViRaL1]

No biggie. How do you think they dye it green every St Patrick's Day?

[Doramius]

I just thought they added a blue dye to it and let all the poor drunk Irish bastards urinate in it.

[housepig]

1.how'd they figure out who it was.
2.Secondly, who was the person who pulled the release valve.
3. Now the last tour bus I looked at had it's handle in the undercarriage and a box cover that had a lock on it. To release it while the bus is moving, someone has to be in the baggage compartment with the gate up.

1. - one of the quicker-witted passengers got a partial plate number, and it was matched to one of the buses that was assigned / rented to DMB.

2. - there's the question....

3. - the bus wasn't moving - it was parked on an overpass, and the boat was passing underneath when the gork got dumped.

[Doramius]

1.how'd they figure out who it was.
2.Secondly, who was the person who pulled the release valve.
3. Now the last tour bus I looked at had it's handle in the undercarriage and a box cover that had a lock on it. To release it while the bus is moving, someone has to be in the baggage compartment with the gate up.

1. - one of the quicker-witted passengers got a partial plate number, and it was matched to one of the buses that was assigned / rented to DMB.

2. - there's the question....

3. - the bus wasn't moving - it was parked on an overpass, and the boat was passing underneath when the gork got dumped.

Must have been a wide and short overpass. I was thinking it was like a highway bridge with the open metal grates. Something like that usually gets noticed right away before a mess gets too far. Anyone within a good diameter and even a bad nose could smell that soon after it was released. Did anyone claim that it was an accident? What type of investigation are they doing?

[handyguy]

I see they dumped on the disabled too. Must have been an ADA dump.

[Capmaster]

I see they dumped on the disabled too. Must have been an ADA dump.

The handicrapped?

[Doramius]

I'm just glad I wasn't an architect on a boat tour that day.