>Your reaction to this story will depend on whether you believe businessmen are mustache-twirlers who pollute rivers...or whether you believe that the kind of government that leaves potholes unfilled for years might jump into action to shift blame and point fingers rather than accept responsibility.

Experience has taught me to trust neither. The city's failure to fix a valve doesn't absolve a party's responsibility to not pollute. Was the valve clogged? Or was it spec'd too small to begin with? The town I live in has a plant (not a meat packer) that has the same problem, with the same result.

I'm loving the typical Texas politician response too. Noticed a business breaking the law? Make noticing things like that a crime!