http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/Music/08/25/bus.waste.ap/index.html

CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- The state of Illinois sued the Dave Matthews Band on Tuesday for allegedly dumping up to 800 pounds of liquid human waste from a bus into the Chicago River, dousing a tour boat filled with passengers.

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

"Our driver has stated that he was not involved in this incident," band spokesman John Vlautin said in a statement. He said the band "will continue to be cooperative in this investigation."

According to the lawsuit, on August 8 a bus leased by the band was heading to a downtown hotel where members were staying. As the bus crossed the Kinzie Street bridge, the driver allegedly emptied the contents of the septic tank through the bridge's metal grating into the river below.

More than 100 people on an architecture tour were showered with foul-smelling waste. The attorney general's office said no one was seriously injured.

"This incident may be unique, but that does not lessen the environmental or public health risks posed by the release of at least 800 pounds of liquid human waste into a busy waterway and onto a crowded tour boat," Attorney General Lisa Madigan said in a statement.

After the incident, the boat's captain turned the vessel around and took passengers back to the dock. Everyone received refunds, and the boat was cleaned with disinfectant.


That was just on the news. That's sick.

I heard it this morning. YUCK!:eek: :barf: :barf:

It wasn't technically human waste, but those lousy Dave Matthews Band cds. I always knew they were no good.

Originally posted by vashti1999
It wasn't technically human waste, but those lousy Dave Matthews Band cds. I always knew they were no good.

now that was a low hit vashti :lol:

Originally posted by Dr. Jazz
now that was a low hit vashti :lol:

:) Yeah, maybe. But I never liked them. I honestly believe the foul odor was their music. :lol:

Originally posted by vashti1999
:) Yeah, maybe. But I never liked them. I honestly believe the foul odor was their music. :lol:


I dion't like them either...btw who is your avatar (just curious)?

Originally posted by BowWowsBaby
I dion't like them either...btw who is your avatar (just curious)?

The cast of Radio Free Roscoe, a show that airs on The.N (Noggin). Season premiere this Friday

How awful. I'd really like to hear the band's side of this incident, though.

Whether the band themselves or the driver of the bus was responsible (even if it was an accident), I hope the band does the right thing here.

I like the Dave Matthews Band. They're certainly not my favorite, but I have a lot of respect for them as musicians.

8/29/2004

To the people of Chicago and our fans:

Given comments being made in some of the emails we have received from fans and the comments we have seen in some of the media, we believe it is important to clarify where we stand regarding the bus dumping incident in Chicago.

Hopefully this will resolve any misunderstandings because we want everyone to know that we care deeply about what happened to the people on the boat that day, which was terrible, and the damage that occurred to Chicago's environment. We are not attempting to avoid any responsibility we may have for the incident. We love Chicago, we love the city and we love the people. It is one of our favorite cities to play. We would never do anything to offend the people of Chicago or any of our fans. If we were responsible for what happened, we will work quickly to make amends, with the people on the boat and with Chicago.

We have fully and voluntarily cooperated with the Chicago authorities since the moment we heard about the incident. We provided access to our drivers and our tour manager immediately, the band was using five different buses in Chicago at that time and we provided the license plate numbers of all of them, we provided photographs of any of the buses they requested and we offered to supply DNA evidence to determine if one of our buses was the bus involved. In short, we have worked with the Chicago authorities in every way we can to determine whether one of our buses was the bus involved in the incident.

Our driver was the only person on the bus during the period relevant to this matter, and he has told us that he had nothing to do with this incident. We have not yet seen any of the other evidence in this case, and we have a few narrow but critical questions related to what we have seen of the evidence in the media. We are working with the Chicago authorities to resolve these open issues as quickly as possible so this matter can be closed.

What happened that Sunday is extremely important to us. It touches on many of the core principles we have supported and tried to live up to, not simply environmental principles and principles of accountability, but more importantly simple principles of humanity. What happened to the people on the boat is awful and our hearts go out to them.

But please understand another principle we are committed to is loyalty and respect for the people who we work with. We are proud that many of our crew have worked with us since the band's earliest years. It has become a family and that family is very important to us. This driver has been working with us for over 5 years. In that time he has earned our respect and trust and on a personal level he has become part of the family. In light of that, we take his statements seriously and ask for everyone's patience until we resolve our concerns. We are working to resolve these as quickly as possible. And to repeat, if it was our bus that did it, we will take responsibility immediately.

-Dave Matthews Band

Dave Matthews Band Seeks To Make Amends

The Associated Press

The Dave Matthews Band said Friday it wants to make amends after one of its tour bus drivers was accused of dumping human waste on sightseers on the Chicago River, but it stopped short of accepting responsibility for the incident.

The Illinois Attorney General's office sued the band and the driver after the Aug. 8 incident, alleging that the driver emptied the vehicle's septic tank while crossing a bridge over the river, dousing more than 100 tour boat passengers with raw sewage.

The band said it had contacted the boat owner and tour operator to try to identify the affected passengers. The band also said it has suspended the driver and is donating $50,000 each to the Chicago Park District and a nonprofit group that protects the Chicago River.

"We hope by reaching out and helping now this will help demonstrate our commitment to step up if we are found to be the responsible party," the band said in a statement posted on its Web site.

The lawsuit accused the band and driver of violating state water pollution and public nuisance laws.

Melissa Merz, a spokeswoman for the attorney general's office, said the band's latest action would not affect ongoing settlement talks. "We certainly, along with all Illinoisans, appreciate the gesture of goodwill, but legal negotiations are based on evidence and legal procedures and we have not yet reached a resolution in this case," Merz said

Ah, if Dave only put as much effort into making music that sounds a little bit different than the stuff before as he does into his apologies.

Apparently the spewing of crap on the public is an appropriate metaphor for the creatively challenged Matthews.

Perhaps Hootie & the Blowfish are willing to open up the next tour.