Race
Don`t they have a flat water race there if so when is it???
Here, here, dwaugh.
– Last Updated: Feb-01-06 4:30 AM EST –
I agree with central Illinois paddler dwaugh. A few barrels of green veggie dye is a nonstarter for Chicago Illinois pollution. Heck, the Dave Matthews band's touring bus dumped raw human excrement directly in the river (and on top of naive camera-wielding sightseers in a boat below) through one of the open metal grated bridges crossing the Chi River. As Aussie rockers AC DC once sang, Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution -- true enough; but Dave Matthew's steaming poop? Yaaaahhh! (pinches nose and sticks out tongue) Even the freakin' president of his fan club don't want no part o' dat!
Flatwater Classic
Yes, Around the first weekend in August, the Friends of the Chicago River hold a race. It is approximately 7 miles long and has hundreds of participants. It is open to all classes of paddlers/boats and is very well organized. Not as much of a “race” as it is an event. Highlight is paddling through downtown Chicago. There is no date published for 2006, yet.
I did it in 2004 and will likely do it again this year, if schedule permits.
Joe
Chicago River wildlife
– Last Updated: Feb-02-06 11:30 AM EST –
During the most recent surveys, 64 species of fish were found in the Chicago River, including threatened and endangered species. The most common species was the green sunfish, bass species and carp dominate the list. The Chicago River is a major greenway for migrating birds and the riparian habitat supports a pretty impressive bird population for such an urban environment, including the belted kingfisher, black crowned night heron, great blue heron, peregrine falcon, and the green heron. Beaver, mink, muskrat, fox, coyote, and deer are also relatively common (all have been spotted within city limits in the last 12 months). I won't list the reptile, amphibian, and benthic creatures that are present.
The Chicago River, like most urban rivers, is unfairly maligned , usually by people that haven't really explored or paddled them. The Chicago River has a rich history and is tremendous resource for the people that live in the region. The more people respect it as such and the better the condition will get, as it is with all bodies of water.
p.s. - you won't find any six-eyed fish either.
pps - the Chicago River Flatwater Classic is being held on August 13 in 2006
Have you really looked?
– Last Updated: Feb-02-06 3:00 PM EST –
Mutant six-eyed fish are very elusive creatures, and with those four extra eyes, have the advantage of being able to see you and hide WAY before you see them. ;-)
I'm sure there is a lot of wildlife in the Chicago Canal, and even if it were a cesspool, that would be no excuse to keep dumping into it. However, as someone who has done NPDES discharge permitting for industrial facilities with outfalls into such high profile water sources as the Houston Ship Channel, Galveston Bay, The Mississippi River, the Plaquemine Bayou, etc, I can tell you that there is no way Chicago could be getting away with such a high profile discharge event for the last 40 years on such a high profile waterway without serious scrutiny from IDEQ and EPA Region 5.
Yes, I have looked…
In the sort of way fish shiocking allows you to look. The Illinois EPA is notoriously understaffed and NPDES permits are reviewed infrequently at best. USEPA region 5 wouldn’t really get involved unless they thought the IEPA operated permit system was “broken”. Having personally reviewed the vast majority of NPDES permits issued for the Chicago River during the last 5 years I don’t recall any permit being applied for or issued. That being said, the dyeing of the River may be covered in the general NPDES permit held by the City of Chicago. Regardless, even if the pipefitters are technically illegaly dumping, no elected state’s attorney in their right mind would prosecute those guys…it would be poltical suicide.
One of the main issues with the dye is that it is a carcinogen and there are very real health concerns for the pipefitters doing the mixing, and therefore inhaling a bunch of the stuff. if I remember correctly some of he original dye dumpers have passed on from lung cancer and some members of their families were placing blame on the dye used on St. Patrick’s day.
What do you do?
– Last Updated: Feb-02-06 3:02 PM EST –
Sounds like we are in similar lines of work.
Do you know for sure what the dye is? I got the impression from my reading that the city keeps it mum and there is a lot of confusion. Some say it is flourescein, some say it used to be but is now vegetable dye, etc. I have to believe the truth is out there and you sound like a guy who is likely to know what it really is.
Wow, from what you describe, it sounds like Chicago is almost as bad as Louisiana, where I do a lot of work. We always joke that all the groundwater under the state should be designated a Plume Management Zone and we should cap off the entire state and take a perimeter approach to remediation at the Texas state line. LDEQ is so worthless, just as you would figure from such a corrupt state.
Sounds familiar
I am sort of a jack of all trades river guy. I consult on river restoration projects and also do some watershed and open space planning, hence the permit reviews. I’ve been working on the Chicago River for the past 5 years. State DEQ’s and EPA’s seem to be lacking in much of the country. The IEPA has some great staff, there are just not enough of them and they have to report to substandard leadership. In my experience, most questionable permits are approved unless there is tremendous uproar from the public.
I think only the pipefitters know for sure what is going into the river. I’ve seen fluorescein used to determine the paths of storm sewers, and it sure looks suspiciously close to the color of the river after it is dyed green. Ultimately, it all gets flushed out to the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers. Just another Chicago deposit into the deadzone in the Gulf.
I don’t think Illinois and Chicago are quite up to the Louisiana level of corruption yet, but we’re doing our best. Our last governor is in court just down the street from my office and our current governor seems to be heading that way. We have more of a King than a Mayor, but cleaning and greening the river is one of hizzoner’s main agenda items, so I won’t complain.
I lived in
Chicago when the real Mayor Daley’s was king . . . Son can’t hold a candle the the power held by “The Boss”