Protester: 'Tea is going in the river'

By MICHAEL MALIK
mmalik@jconline.com

Tax protesters say they intend to dump a crate of tea bags into the Wabash River on Wednesday in protest of excessive government spending -- permission or no permission.

"Tea is going in the river, regardless," said Jared Fagan, one of the Lafayette's Tax Day Tea Party organizers. "The amount of hoops you have to go through for this to happen is part of what we're protesting."

The event is one of hundreds taking place next week in cities across America.

Fagan and other organizers said Thursday they have been in contact with the necessary state and federal agencies, including the Department of Natural Resources, about their plans to throw tea bags in the river in homage to the American colonists' Boston Tea Party.

But state environmental officials say they aren't keen about the idea of sullying the Wabash that way. And Lafayette city officials said they were still awaiting official confirmation from the state before finalizing a permit for the protest on the John T. Myers Pedestrian Bridge.

"There is no deadline" to submit that approval, City Clerk Cindy Murray said Thursday afternoon. "We've already granted them permission as long as they have the DNR approval."

Murray said she had heard from event organizer Donn Brown that he had received verbal approval through the DNR. But she said she has asked for written confirmation from the agency.

Marty Benson, assistant director of communications for the DNR, said a member of the Tea Party group contacted Indiana conservation officer Dan Dulin, who is stationed in the district that includes Lafayette.

"Dulin did not approve or give permission to do the activity," Benson said. "What he said was it didn't violate any DNR rules."

It could, however, be against Indiana Department of Environmental Management's rules.

"It would technically be considered an unpermited discharge," said Amber Finkelstein, a public information officer with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.

The department works to ensure Indiana rivers and streams meet minimum water quality standards while attempting to improve water quality across the state.

Finkelstein said throwing tea in a river is a bad idea because it could hurt aquatic life by depleting the water of oxygen. She said it also would be a fineable offense. IDEM fines are handled on a case-by-case basis.

"IDEM would not be able to permit an action like that because it does not meet minimum water quality standards," Finkelstein said. "The issue of adding organic matter into a body of water is anything that breaks down required oxygen."

Benson said he didn't know whether conservation officers would be in the area during the planned protest to prevent anything from being thrown into the river.

"Whether somebody wants to give them a local ticket for littering is up to them," Benson said.

Additional Facts
Find out moreGreater Lafayette's Tax Day Tea Party will be from noon to 2 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday on the John T. Myers Pedestrian Bridge over the Wabash River in downtown Lafayette. For more information or to volunteer, send an e-mail to projectantiliberal13@yahoo.com
Tea is going in the river J&C Article