Two Caught Dumping Chemicals Into River!

[Gary Lange]

Well they are starting a cleanup but as of yet they haven't filed any charges. They caught them dumping the Chemicals into a sew drain I guess. The lastest read is from a guy that lives along a section of the waterway.

Neighbor: South Elgin fish kill 'obscene'

Comments

May 18, 2010

By GLORIA CARR gcarr@stmedianetwork.com

SOUTH ELGIN — Ben and Anne Culos' home is like an oasis with its lovely lawn, two man-made ponds and a peaceful stream passing through the southern part of the property adjacent to the Fox River.

Every night, the couple can hear the bullfrogs and see the gray heron and cranes swoop into the stream to catch fish.

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The last two nights, though, the sound of bullfrogs has ceased. Ben Culos had to chase away the birds to keep them from eating the dead carp, contaminated by a chemical poured into a storm sewer upstream. Dead carp, catfish, frogs and water snakes were pulled from the stream, and more dead carp keep popping up, he said.

"The river's really been cleaned up the last seven or eight years," Culos said. "It's really obscene. It's really ridiculous for these idiots to throw those chemicals" in the sewer.

He has lived along the river for 14 years and watches nature's scenes unfold every day. The stream next to his house is a natural feeding and breeding ground for the carp this time of year.

"We sat here all day Saturday just seeing thousands of them," he said. "We had fish from one end of the stream to the other."

Then he and his neighbors began seeing a substance like soap suds, "except they were 6, 8 feet tall," he said. "It was pretty incredible. All of a sudden, you see the fish turning on their sides, gasping for air."

An Illinois Department of Natural Resources officer told him the suds take the oxygen from the water, Culos said. He figures since the stream is not very deep, the fish couldn't swim at a different depth and were killed.

Ben Culos is sad and disturbed about the loss of the wildlife and losing a natural hatchery.

[Buzz]

"We sat here all day Saturday just seeing thousands of them," he said. "We had fish from one end of the stream to the other."

Then he and his neighbors began seeing a substance like soap suds, "except they were 6, 8 feet tall," he said. "It was pretty incredible. All of a sudden, you see the fish turning on their sides, gasping for air."

An Illinois Department of Natural Resources officer told him the suds take the oxygen from the water, Culos said. He figures since the stream is not very deep, the fish couldn't swim at a different depth and were killed.

Ben Culos is sad and disturbed about the loss of the wildlife and losing a natural hatchery.

Wow, what a huge waste. I can only hope that someone gets hung, literally, over this deal.

[Indiana Trout]

My first inclination is to have them machine gunned to death.

[Randall]

Very good point.

We have a small farm in Iowa that we are developing for recreational purposes (hopefully by the time my wife and I pass it will be established for the grandkids....but I digress). It sits about 1000' feet off of the Missouri and is adjacent to state land. One weekend about 5 years ago my wife and I head up to the farm for some r & r. As we pull into the yard I can see all kinds of tire tracks out behind the barn, heading towards the river......"What the heck??"

About that time the neighbor comes over on his atv. One of his passions is long bow hunting. The week before he had been scouting areas on the state land and had discovered a working meth lab. He high tailed it out of there and called the sheriff. Where the neighbor had found the lab was kind of land locked so the cops drove through our property to get as close as possible for the disposal team. Apparently they had been using the spot for awhile because the land was scorched and remains so.

It changed our outlook on being in the country. Our land is very close to where Lewis and Clark had an encampment. We enjoy imagining the simplicity of those days and their travels. Contrast that to some meth head cooking his concoction and it has left me very disappointed in some of my fellow men. The sheriff said to call him if we see any suspicious activity. Anymore if I see headlights down by the river late at night I wonder if it's some kid trying to hit on his girlfriend or some crack head......to call or not to call.

I feel your pain. We have some guys coming onto our ground and cooking in a holler behind our barn every once in a while. The law knows who it is, won't tell us, and has yet to make an arrest because they lack sufficient evidence for probable cause. Worse yet they told us that only one deputy has a vehicle that can make it to that part of our property, even though it is a manicured field with prime access to the county road which is in a consistent state of disrepair due to frequent flooding of the adjacent creek. So if we catch them cooking, we were informed that the law will offer us no protection other than during the 40 business hours per week that deputy works. In the same thread, we can't take the law into our own hands because the chances of a confrontation turning violent are extremely high and one or more of them is likely to die in the process and it is unlawful to use deadly force unless used against you first or you are in your home. So we have a wonderful example of how the law in limited circumstances serves the interests of dangerous criminals and interferes with the rights of law abiding citizens.

[Chief Grey Bear]

Ahh, that is an easy fix Randall, after you shoot them, just let them rot! Obviously the local law ain't coming out to your place.

[Gilly]

........ We have some guys coming onto our ground and cooking in a holler behind our barn every once in a while. The law knows who it is, won't tell us, and has yet to make an arrest because they lack sufficient evidence for probable cause. Worse yet they told us that only one deputy has a vehicle that can make it to that part of our property, even though it is a manicured field with prime access to the county road which is in a consistent state of disrepair due to frequent flooding of the adjacent creek. So if we catch them cooking, we were informed that the law will offer us no protection other than during the 40 business hours per week that deputy works. In the same thread, we can't take the law into our own hands because the chances of a confrontation turning violent are extremely high and one or more of them is likely to die in the process and it is unlawful to use deadly force unless used against you first or you are in your home. So we have a wonderful example of how the law in limited circumstances serves the interests of dangerous criminals and interferes with the rights of law abiding citizens.

I don't think you'd want to try to deal/approach them in any way shape or form.....

We have an apartment building. One evening I was over there doing some work on the outside of the building. I caught a wiff of what smelled like starter fluid, couldn't quite place it. A little while later this guy comes walking very quickly down the alley into our yard. He's talking in tongues, gesturing wildly. I get off of the scaffold to see if I could help him. He reeked of a chemical smell and his eyes, I kid you not, were so large that I thought they would blow up.

About that time 3 cops come running up on the guy and tackle him to the ground. It happened so fast but it took everything the cops had to subdue this guy. He fought like a caged wildcat. A squad car blows into my backyard and those 2 cops made the incident quickly end. The guy and his girlfriend had set up a cooker in the dumpster behind another building down the street. They weren't even living in the area. Point being, alone there is no way most of us could deal with someone like that, short of shooting them.

[Buzz]

You wanna know the really bad thing about these people that cook this crap? They can be someone you know and would never suspect. My dad told me about a guy who just got busted in Barry County for making and selling Meth. This guy took over a very prosperous heating and air business from his father. He was not only cooking and selling the stuff out of his company truck but in his home with a young child present.

I say,"Hangem'High", this stuff is killing a whole generation.

[Randall]

The sad thing is that scenario is pretty common. We'll see trailers blow up around the county with toys all over the place. Poor kids never have a chance.

[flytyer57]

My first inclination is to have them machine gunned to death.

Oh come on now.

Machine gunned?

Really?

I say, give them some of the chemicals they dumped.

[Indiana Trout]

Oh come on now.

Machine gunned?

Really?

I say, give them some of the chemicals they dumped.

Yep...Really...