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In the summer of 2004, the Dave Matthews Band came to the Chicago area for the first time and played to sold-out shows. 2.5 Hour Package at the Tweeter Center (now Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre) in Tinley Park.
Bob Gendron wrote of the performance, “Although Matthews’ plaintive high notes sounded like air leaking out of a leaky mattress, he accentuated his elastic voice with improvisations and mumblings that drew screams from female fans.”
On August 8, 2004, the band visited again, again causing screams – but not for its music.
What happened on and under the Kinzie Street Bridge on the North Branch of the Chicago River 20 years ago is now part of local legend. Here is the Chicago Tribune’s account of the infamous “bus accident.”
August 8, 2004: Tourists drenched in “brown-yellow” mud
The Chicago Architecture Foundation’s Little Lady Chicago cruise ship, one of the city’s most popular tourist attractions, was damaged when a luxury bus stopped on the Kinzie Street Bridge and spewed 800 pounds of liquid toilet waste as tourists passed by. The waste seeped through the bridge’s metal grating, drenching two-thirds of the 120 passengers on board with a foul-smelling brown-yellow slurry that stained their clothes and made several of them sick. Five people were taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital for examination. All 120 passengers were refunded the $25 ticket price.
Witnesses told police they saw a black stretch tour bus dumping liquid waste. A witness provided Chicago police with an Oregon license plate number for a 2003 Monaco Royale coach driven by Jerry Fitzpatrick, who had been Matthews’ tour bus driver for three years.
Fitzpatrick confirmed that he was in Chicago with Matthews, whose band was playing the second of two shows that night in Alpine Valley, Wis. But the driver said he was parked in front of The Peninsula Hotel, at 108 E. Superior Street, when the trash began pouring down from a bridge a few blocks away.
“There’s no way I could be responsible for this. I haven’t emptied the tank in days. Besides, we’re very cautious about doing this kind of thing,” Fitzpatrick told the Tribune in south Effingham. “This band is very environmentally conscious.”
To prove his case, Fitzpatrick persuaded Effingham Police Sergeant Paul Gardner to inspect the bus. He then handed Gardner his cellphone and asked him to tell reporters that the tank was almost full.
“This has to be one of the weirdest requests I’ve ever received,” Gardner said.
The next evening, a publicist for the band released a statement saying that management had “confirmed that all buses from our tour were parked there at the time of the incident.”
Chicago police, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and the Metropolitan Chicago Water Reclamation District have all launched investigations.
August 24, 2004: “This behavior is not only offensive, it is illegal”
After a two-week investigation into the incident, which drew the ire of Chicago’s mayor and the chuckles of late-night TV hosts, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan accused the band and driver Stephen Wall of illegally dumping the fetid waste into the river and creating a public nuisance. Three civil lawsuits were filed in Cook County Circuit Court seeking a $70,000 fine and an evaluation of the band’s waste disposal practices.
Authorities said surveillance cameras from nearby businesses helped Madigan investigators and Chicago police detectives track down the bus driver, Wall, a Texas man identified in the indictment as one of five drivers for the Dave Matthews Band.
According to three civil lawsuits filed in Cook County Circuit Court, Wall was driving to a hotel on Michigan Avenue to pick up a band member when he crossed the Kinzie Street Bridge.
“This incident may be unique, but it does not mitigate the environmental or public health risks posed by the discharge of at least 800 pounds of liquid human waste into a busy waterway and onto a crowded cruise ship,” Madigan said in a statement. “This situation clearly demonstrates the environmental and public health problems that can occur when the law is ignored. This behavior is not only repugnant, it is illegal.”
Nancy Todor, an Elmhurst resident whose 43rd birthday was ruined by being soaked by the rain, said the $70,000 fine seemed an inadequate punishment for the band. In November 2004, Todor became the first passenger on the boat to be soaked by the rain. Filing a lawsuit Against the band.
Maybe, she said, Matthews should give a concert for the sullied ship patrons.
Holly Agra, co-owner of the boat, said the incident was a stark contrast to the usual enthusiastic media coverage of one of the city’s most popular tourist attractions.
“We can’t let our image get tarnished,” Agra said recently. “We don’t want this to affect our entire career.”
August 25, 2004: “Apparently, this is the bus that discharges liquid”
Chicago police released video from an East Shore Club security camera, a time-stamped image showing a black and silver bus crossing the Kinzie Street Bridge at 1:18 p.m. on Aug. 8, 2004. The camera did not capture the water-soaked scene. But the video showed no other buses crossed the bridge in the 15 minutes before and after the accident, Belmont District Commander Michael Chasen said at a news conference.
“Obviously, this is the bus that’s discharging the fluid,” Chasen said.
Mayor Richard M. Daley said city officials also could file criminal charges, but the crime would likely be considered a misdemeanor.
Daley said: “The illegal dumping of waste into the Chicago River is absolutely unacceptable.” But he still described the rock band as “a very good band.”
Days later, the band responded to the allegations, saying it had fully cooperated with Chicago authorities, provided contact information for its driver and tour management, license plate numbers and photos of its five tour buses, and offered to provide DNA evidence to determine whether the organization was responsible. Two months later, the band donated $50,000 per person To our friends at the Chicago River and the Chicago Park District.
March 9, 2005: Driver pleads guilty
Two months later, charged Wall pleaded guilty to reckless conduct and water contamination by discharging pollutants into the Chicago River by discharging the bus’s septic tank. He was sentenced to 18 months probation, 150 hours of community service and a $10,000 fine, which will be donated to the Friends of the Chicago River.
Assistant Cook County District Attorney speaks after the hearing Robert EganHe said he was satisfied with Wall’s punishment, even though it did not include prison time, as he was involved in negotiating the plea agreement.
“I’ve been in touch with many people who were on the ship and none of them have suffered any lasting health effects,” Egan said, but many threw away the clothes they were wearing that day and said their cars were soiled on the drive home.
April 29, 2005: “Foul incident” resolved
About a month before the band was scheduled to play Chicago again, the Dave Matthews Band agreed to pay $200,000 to settle a state lawsuit.
The fine will be deposited into a fund for environmental education programs. The group also agreed to keep records for the next five years detailing where and when its tour buses emptied their dumpsters in Illinois.
In return, the band was allowed to avoid admitting guilt in court. It also won a provision designed to make it more difficult for the cruise ship operator and at least one unfortunate cruise passenger to use the settlement money to file a lawsuit against the band.
“This settlement is reasonable and appropriate given the threat to public and environmental health posed by this odor incident,” Madigan said in a statement.
Ben & Jerry’s ice cream has launched a new flavour – Dave Matthews Band Magic Brownie – with packaging encouraging fans to “lick global warming”.
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