Peoria’s crap is once again polluting the river

From my inbox:

Rainfall in the City of Peoria has caused a sewer overflow into the Illinois River recently from one or more locations shown on the map located here.

When this warning is posted, please avoid full-body contact with the Illinois River in the area downstream from Detweiller Marina, as shown on the map. You may get sick if you swallow river water while swimming, Jet Skiing, or water skiing in these areas after a sewer overflow.

The City of Peoria is developing a long-term plan to reduce sewage overflows to the river during wet weather, as required under the Clean Water Act.

Diseases caused by human feces have probably killed more people than than all the wars in the 20th century combined. Yet we obsess over the “toxic waste” at the PDC landfill in Pottstown and complain about the “unfunded mandate” that we stop dumping our feces into the Illinois River.

One member of the city council says it’s not a problem because human waste is “natural.”

About Billy Dennis

Billy Dennis is lifelong Peorian, having attended Kingman, Glen Oak, Woodruff High School and Illinois Central College before finally tricking Eastern Illinois University into granting him a bachelor's degree in journalism. He's reported on police, fires, labor, local government and schools all across Illinois and Missouri. A former liberal Democrat, life experience turned him into a small-l libertarian.
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4 Responses to Peoria’s crap is once again polluting the river

  1. anotherexjser says:

    Which member of the City Council said that? Tornadoes, rats and flesh-eating bacteria are natural, too.

  2. Billy Dennis says:

    Hmmm … I’ll without hold that name because he may have been half serious and/or too full of Bemish to be held responsible for his words.

  3. Ryder says:

    Ah, nothing quite like the fresh scent of poo on a rainy day! Seriously though, although the sewer overflow into the Illinois River when it really rains is not a good thing I heard a story on NPR last year that the biggest pollution by far in the Illinois River stems not from human waste, but livestock waste and runoff from farming.

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