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Joe Shlabotnik

(5,604 posts)
Thu Jun 5, 2014, 12:19 AM Jun 2014

Rubber duck race in Fort McMurray ends in sadness

Athabasca River, Fort McMurray, Alberta - The fun community event which includes participants placing bets on numbered rubber ducks and putting them in a river with the hopes of their duck crosses the finish first, ended in utter sadness for everyone in attendance.

When the rubber ducks were unloaded into the oilsands polluted river from the back of a trailer, they started melting immediately and then produced a high pitched noise, along with a rather awful smell. “Soon as the boat dumped the ducks into the river, I knew something was wrong.” Said Fort McMurray resident Charles Needham. “Rubber ducks aren’t supposed to make that kind of sound.”

The melting bathtub toys soon created a stinky yellow circle which refused to let the current of the river take it down stream. "It just stayed there, making that horrid noise. Even though the ducks were fake, I swear that they were screaming for help, but there was nothing I could do... THERE WAS NOTHING I COULD DO!" said Needham.

Many children in attendance have yet to recover from the incident. Most have reverted to a catatonic state, just wandering around the river bank not saying anything. The only child to respond was 11 year old Sarah Howard who, on being asked if she was okay, just mimicked the hissing sound of the melting ducks.
From: http://www.thebeaverton.com/local/item/1377-rubber-duck-race-in-fort-mcmurray-ends-in-sadness
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(Satire)
2 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Rubber duck race in Fort McMurray ends in sadness (Original Post) Joe Shlabotnik Jun 2014 OP
Thanks for the satire warning. Depending on where you grew up....... wandy Jun 2014 #1
is the Cayahoga river still burning? Leme Jun 2014 #2

wandy

(3,539 posts)
1. Thanks for the satire warning. Depending on where you grew up.......
Thu Jun 5, 2014, 01:03 AM
Jun 2014

you might just have fallen for that one.

The Lackawanna River is a 40.8-mile-long (65.7 km)[3] tributary of the Susquehanna River in northeastern Pennsylvania in the United States. It flows through a region of the northern Pocono Mountains that was once a center of anthracite coal mining in the United States. The lower reaches of the river flow through the urbanized areas of Scranton, which grew around its banks in the 19th century as an industrial center. Its name comes from a Lenni Lenape word meaning "stream that forks".
The river rises in two branches, the West and East branches, along the boundary between Susquehanna and Wayne counties. The branches, each about 12 miles (19 km) long, flow south, closely parallel to each other, and join at the Stillwater Lake reservoir. The combined river flows southwest past Forest City, Carbondale, Mayfield, Jermyn, Archbald, Jessup, Blakely, Olyphant, Dickson City, Throop, Scranton, Taylor, Moosic, Old Forge, and Duryea. It joins the Susquehanna River at the northern boundary of Pittston about 8 miles (13 km) west-southwest of Scranton.
By the mid-20th century, the river was severely polluted from mine drainages in its watershed. The decline of industry in the region, as well as federal, state, and private efforts, have improved the water quality. Still, the Lackawanna River is the largest point source of pollution in the Chesapeake Bay.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lackawanna_River

RAVE
Newport Lake-”Loch Mess”-an abandoned water-filled anthracite strip mining pit 20 acres in size, 40? deep down the center of the pit floor, nearly 200? feet across, 4/10s of a mile long down valley; The pit is flooded with abandoned mine drainage.......

http://delacuevailcpravejournal.wordpress.com/2010/08/15/raving-newport-township-nanticoke-old-forge-and-wilkes-barre/
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