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 anda 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 hasa 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 preduced 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. 
