Posted on 10/22/2004 8:58:08 PM PDT by Land_of_Lincoln_John
CHICAGO (AP) 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 making $50,000 donations to the Chicago Park District and a nonprofit group that protects the Chicago River.
``We know we cannot erase what happened that day, but 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 two sides were trying to negotiate a settlement and that the band's latest actions had no impact on those 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.
The band said it was uncomfortable with the amount of time the investigation was taking so it ``decided to take action now even though it may turn out the incident was not caused by one of our buses.''
``We simply want to begin the healing process,'' the band said.
Dave Matthews and his band are waste.
but, but,,,I thought the DMB maintained all along they didn't do it,,and they were willing to submit DNA to prove they were innocent...
I say it's time to collect some DNA-Chicago Style!
Are they sure it wasn't just Kerry campaign material that accidently fell out of the bus?
LOL! The stench would have been worse.
Good, next they can try to make amends for all the sewage they've dumped into both the national political discourse and the radio airwaves.
What kind of rock band uses phrases like "healing process", for God's sake?
Oh, right...a really lousy, 'sensitive', girly-man one. Why do I imagine most of his audience being middle-aged Oprah addicts? And come on--GET OVER IT. A big old tank of sh*t got dumped on your head. Upsetting, potentially unhealthy, but ultimately something you'll laugh about. Crybabies, all of 'em.
That is a load of crap, so to speak.
If I were to do something really bad, then make amends for it by giving a load of dough to a charity of my choice, like, say, the Boy Scouts, I'd be called out for being a fraud!
Dave Matthews USED to be a USO Tour favorite. Then he opened his ignorant lying mouth. The USO dropped him and the troops DID NOT complain.
They should be settling a multi-million dollar lawsuit with the victims of this gross negligence.
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