Dave Matthews Band Incident Remembered

Twenty years after a bus driver hired by the Dave Matthews Band dumped sewage on the heads of people enjoying a Chicago architectural cruise, the horrific incident still resonates with the public. In fact, every time the band returns to Chicago, which they did not this year, the story makes the news.

This week Friends received countless media calls about the anniversary and shared our perspective on how the river has changed since that fateful day. And on Thursday night, the incident’s anniversary, John Quail, Friends’ director of policy and conservation, and Doug McConnell, founder of the Chicago River Swim, shared the podium at Friends August 8 Happy Hour Speaker Series lecture at our Bridgehouse Museum. The list of accomplishments and improvements in water quality and access John shared is nothing short of astonishing, and the result is that the river is bursting with life and a perfect location for the proposed Chicago River Swim.

Friends’ Executive Director Margaret Frisbie, told reporters that dumping sewage in the Chicago River was a symbol of how disregarded the river was 20 years ago which today, you can see when you walk by the river, is no longer true.

Friends is proud to have been at the forefront of the river’s recovery and renaissance Frisbie continued, “When Friends was founded in 1979, a swimming event in the river seemed like an impossible dream but a bus driver dumping sewage did not. Today, quite the opposite is true and we will work towards the day when everyone who wants to swim in the river has the chance to swim.”

Learn more about the action and advocacy you can take with us to restore and protect the Chicago-Calumet River system for all people, water, and wildlife.