74 ILLINOIS BIOLOGICAL MONOGRAPHS [172 



feet wide, fifteen to eighteen inches deep, clear, colorless, and odorless. 

 The stage of water at the time of inspection was low. No septic action 

 was present except in the open ditch through which the sewage flows from 

 the tank into the stream. There is a large sludge bank in the stream 

 immediately below the outlet and a most obnoxious odor." Effluent from 

 the Urbana tank appeared as typical fresh sewage, but was not representa- 

 tive of the ordinary effluent as the tank had been cleaned only the day 

 previous to the visit (page 9). 



The stream known under the name of the ''Boneyard" carries both 

 waste and sewage. This stream is about three and a half miles in length and 

 rises about half a mile beyond the northern limits of the City of Cham- 

 paign. The stream flows southward to near Third and Green streets, 

 where it abruptly turns eastward, emptying into the Salt Fork near the 

 Big Four shops in Urbana. This stream has a drainage area of about eight 

 and a half square miles. Sewage enters the Boneyard near Goodwin 

 Avenue and at the old high school on Stoughten Street, Urbana. Water 

 bearing wastes, presumably from business houses near by, enters the stream 

 north of Main Street. The banks close to the water line near Main Street 

 culvert are slimy and green (data from G. C. Habermeyer, 1918). 



The Boneyard is subject to great fluctuations of water level, due to the 

 severe storms of spring and summer when heavy rains occur. At such times 

 a rise of three or four feet in a few hours is not unusual and the waters 

 overflow all adjacent low land. At one time (reported very bad in 1915) 

 chemical wastes in the form of oil and tar were discharged into the stream 

 from the gas works of the Champaign Street Railway, Gas and Electric 

 Company, situated at the corner of Fifth and Hill streets, Champaign, 

 east of the Illinois Central tracks. The oil at one period extended the 

 entire length of the Boneyard, covering lawns, when the water was high, 

 with an unsightly layer of heavy oil. The shores and bottom of the stream 

 in many places were covered with tar, which has not subsequently been 

 removed and also cannot be removed by the natural flow of water, but must 

 be artificially taken from the stream bed.* 



The oil discharged from the gas works, as well as from some other 

 points along the Boneyard, is absolutely inimical to any life in the stream. 

 The tar, if carried down stream, finally settles to the bottom and unless 

 artificially removed, will remain there and render the stream unfit for 

 bottom inhabiting life of any kind. Fortunately, such pollution is confined 

 to the upper part of the Boneyard. Waters charged with sewage may 

 become purified in a year or two after pollution ceases, but they will sel- 

 dom or never recover from chemical pollution such as is produced by tar 



* From Ralph Hilscher, Report on Contamination of the Boneyard in Champaign by 

 Gas House Wastes August 28, 1915. Here published by permission of Edward Bartow. 



