The Democratic National Committee has apologized after a campaign bus was seen dumping human waste into a storm drain in Lawrenceville, Georgia.
An auto parts store manager alerted police after after seeing the bus empty its sewage tank on the street about 9:30 a.m. Tuesday at 455 Grayson Highway, near where people were waiting in line for early voting in Gwinnett County, a local Fox News affiliate reported.
Witnesses reported seeing someone get out of the bus and open the sewage tank, letting wastewater spill onto the street and into the drain. A police report said a large amount of “drying toilet paper” and a “foul smell” was left behind, which was cleaned up by Gwinnett County hazardous-material crews.
Lawrenceville police declined to file charges but will hand the investigation over to Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division, according to local reports.
“There is a violation, there is a city violation for dumping materials into the storm drain system, obviously this feeds into streams,” said Lawrenceville Police Capt. Jeff Smith.
Democratic National Committee bus spotted illegally dumping sewage in Lawrenceville, Ga. EPD involved, #fox5news pic.twitter.com/0hRbxaR8TQ
— George (@gfrancofox5news) October 19, 2016
The manager at O’Reilly Auto Parts, Mike Robins, said he knew something was amiss when sewage spilled onto the street. He took photos of the incident and turned them over to police.
The large blue bus, which was in town for an early voting event, featured the slogan “Forward Together” and a graphic of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and running mate Tim Kaine.
Mr. Robins said his decision to act had nothing to do with politics.
“It’s just wrong,” he told a local CBS News affiliate. “I don’t care who you are, if you’re Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. I don’t care who you are. You don’t dump human waste down a storm drain.”
A DNC spokesperson said the driver of the bus noticed the sewage tank was full and pulled over to prevent it from leaking.
“This was an honest mistake and we apologize to the Lawrenceville community for any harm we may have caused,” the DNC said in a statement Tuesday afternoon. “We were unaware of any possible violations and have already taken corrective action with the charter bus company to prevent this from happening again. Furthermore, the DNC will work with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, as well as local and state officials to determine the best course of corrective action.”
Donald Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway reacted to the incident on Twitter.
Faint apology, apt metaphor of the Dems trying to unload their crap. https://t.co/C7PBbjDxxi
— Kellyanne Conway (@KellyannePolls) October 18, 2016
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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