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Home My WebLink AboutFox 9 News Report ,~ ~Welcome to FOX 9 - Investigators ii -. ~M~~M~_>:.iti"F!t ':.':f':m''''''J:.':t,.... .............,.".,:,... . ........ .'1" ~ I~i 0 M.E - . - .- Urine Iombs t>,J E Vi,S It - - WEATHER They're called bombs and they turn up every day along Minnesota highways. ~ ............ ~ ~ They're not made with explosives, but with human waste. What are they and who.s MORNING leaving them behind? . - J NVE511 GAf()R5 Civic minded souls like these gather garbage by the ton... Twenty-six thousand tons .- CON!J.AU NJT'Y a year~ The average adopt a highway crew snags six bags of garbage per mile, SPCtR1'S nearfy two-hundred thousand bags a year. ~ "You see what people throw out and you wonder why.u .Se ABDUl' US l~.RAF r: Ie Wonder, too, how some people have come to view the roadside ditch as dumpster. . Re - - . -. A biting bug infested, litter laden landfill that becomes somebody else's problem. eN, PI-IOTO TEAJ\fl - - Here's a whole bag of garbage~ Somebody's obviously cleaned all the garbage out EMPlOYMEN1~ of their car or truck and just tossed it on the road for somebody to pick up. .....i.) C()NTACT US \~ And then there is this: WHAlaJS ON "~ - "Someone's urinated in it." .511"E INDEX It would be tough to shock Steve Narusiewicz whose job is daify ditch de-littering. The Department of Transportation, or MnDOT, spends more than five million dollars a year hauling away roadside trash. This is one several spots where the staters roadside refuse gets dumped and sorted. The really gross stuff gets set aside, like a pair off men's briefs covered in feces, and Uned up like trophies, what the road workers like to call urine bombs. UThat's bottles that truckers have urinated in. Fortunately they usually seal them, toss them out the window and we get to pick them up." Or worse, before someone can pick them up, the mower comes along. UWith liquid in them, they explode so you've got it over everything." Hence the name urine bombs. ClOn a daily basis we find them.>> So often that these guys can do their own urinaly~is... "It's a little on the light color. He's been drinking a lot of water apparently." . . . MOOT style. This guy hasn't been drinking enough water. Very dark. Could it really be that common? The FOX 9 Investigators did some ditch delving. http://www.kmsp.com/news/investigators/story.asp?1649156 4/23/2006 ... · Welcome to FOX 9 - Investigators Page 2 of3 .' "I walked so many ditches I got blisters. And every where we went.. " "Here's one. A coke bottle. n We concentrate on cloverleaves. Folks tend to toss things here. They're less likely to be spotted. 35E and Highway 36 In Little Canada. 694 and 169 in Osseo. This is one of the things road workers are especially worried about It's got a Uttle bit of urine in it. The mower has gone over it and shredded the top so someone coming through to clean up might think this bottle is empty. If they pick it up that residual urine would get on them: their hands, their clothes. 35W and 694 in New Brighton "Okay, here's a plastic bottle and a pair of old underwear. It looks like feces in it." And just who would do this kind of thing? Here's a clue: Road workers also call these "trucker bomb~. tJ "Not enough places to stop. When you got to go, you gotta go. U Dave and his wife have been driving a truck for eight years.. Pee in a bag or bottle? Yep, they've done it. But they say they always throw it in the trash. "Have you ever had to urinate in a bottle?" I'd rather say no." "But to be honest?" ul'd rather say no." The practice of peeing and tossing is so widespread that it's debated in major trucking magazines. nl think as long as it's closed up its safe." "Just to throw it out in the ditch?" "If they need to. 'J IIBut that's litter." "Well it may be, but still they don't want to keep it in their truck. " IIAnd so the little boy scouts that come by to clean the ditches which they do for community service have to pick up those bottles and that's okay?" "Well, it's not on the outside of the bottles. The bottlefsclean." IIWhen the mowers come through and they mow those bottles, they explode. ,. uThen it dries. " "So you don't think it's a big deal?l1 uNo. n "You don't care if he does it?" "No. " To be sure, not every trucker does it. Most we talked to said they wouldn't. And the .drivers of the big rigs are not the only suspects. Road workers say suburban commuters are to blame too. l'lt we have an accident or there's a back up in rush hour. Somebody can't make it to the bathroom they take the first thing handy ~" To pee in a bottle is one thi~g. To throw it out the window is another. "People really don't care." So it would seem. At least of the people who wouldn't dream of keeping their own http://www.k.msp.com/news/investigators/story .asp? 1649156 4/23/2006 ... · Welcome to FOX 9 - Investigators Page 3 of3 .. filth in their car or truck. But have no qualms that it might end up in the hands of these civic minder souls. Funny that some care so much. ~-~_-...I~-""""-""'--- ---- ,............................-...~._.~.-...--._.~.........----..._____...............____~_r...~........".........__~_._~~_........--..._~.....______~......._______~_~ For the latest news and updates, watch FOX 9 News tonight at 9. TM & @ 2006 FoX/UTV Holdings, Inc. Many pages in the KMSP FOX 9 Web site feature links to other sites, some of which are operated by companies unrelated to KMSP FOX 9.. KMSP FOX 9 has no control over the content or availability of any linked site. TM and @ 2006 KMSP FOX 9., and itS related entities. All rights reserved. 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