Auburn Trees Poisoned, Perpetrator apprehended

[WMR]

http://auburn.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1190113

Really, really sad. I hope they can save the trees but it doesn't sound promising. I love big, old trees and the ones at Auburn are a huge part of their campus tradition...

They should really throw the book at this guy. What a buffoon, and calling into a radio show to brag about it to boot.

[Brutus]

Idiot of the year, definitely in the running.

But sentence shouldn't be too severe. After all... they're trees.

[Slyder]

They need to throw the book at him for being a dumbass and keep him from harming himself or someone else with his stupidity.

[SeeinRed]

Originally Posted by Brutus the Pimp

Idiot of the year, definitely in the running.

But sentence shouldn't be too severe. After all... they're trees.

I agree with this. He is an absolute idiot, and what he did is about as dumb as it gets. That doesn't mean what he did was worthy of some outlandish penalty. "Fans" have done much more idiotic and harmful things. Not saying he shouldn't be punished, but this is hardly a case where extreme measures should be involved.

[jojo]

Originally Posted by Slyder

They need to throw the book at him for being a dumbass and keep him from harming himself or someone else with his stupidity.

Pretty much this. It's very likely the herbicide is going to leech into the water supply. Its probably going to cost several million dollars to clean up if the mess is as bad as initially indicated.

The reason he poured poison is asinine and frankly about as trivial as can be imagined but what he actually did was very serious.

[Brutus]

Originally Posted by Slyder

They need to throw the book at him for being a dumbass and keep him from harming himself or someone else with his stupidity.

It's a huge leap from harming a plant to harming someone.

I don't even think that's in the psychology textbooks.

[cumberlandreds]

IMO, he should be punished as much as the law allows. Today its trees,tomorrow it could be a human(s) who are getting the poison. No one should be naive enogh to think that things could go that far either. Maybe a severe punishment could make someone think twice the next time.

[WVRed]

What is really sad is that this is a black eye for Alabama football fans, who are the most passionate football fans in the SEC. They are to football what Kentucky fans are to basketball.

I just hope the actions of one don't reflect on everybody else.

[Sea Ray]

Originally Posted by cumberlandreds

IMO, he should be punished as much as the law allows. Today its trees,tomorrow it could be a human(s) who are getting the poison. No one should be naive enogh to think that things could go that far either. Maybe a severe punishment could make someone think twice the next time.

What are you basing that on? The article clearly stated there was no danger to humans:

There is no reason to suspect any human danger from the herbicide.

[Hoosier Red]

I think there's a certain block in someone's brain that says "I'll kill the Auburn trees. Won't that be funny," that shows a lack of appreciation for living things that can certainly be correlated to behavior which could harm humans later. It may not, but I don't think it's a huge leap to suggest it's a very real possibility.

Either you respect and value life, or you don't. Anyone who would so blatantly and maliciously kill off a living thing for no reason other than to piss off another school certainly doesn't value life.

[jojo]

Originally Posted by Sea Ray

What are you basing that on? The article clearly stated there was no danger to humans:

There is no longer immediate danger to humans from the tebuthiuron that has soaked into the soil-in other words, walking past Toomers corner isn't likely to kill you because there isn't a great chance you'll get enough of it on you or worse, into you to cause severe issues.

There is a problem if it leeches into the water supply and people start ingesting it.....

Raise your hand if you want tebuthiuron dust in your eyes or tebuthiuron in your drinking water....

Who knows how many people he exposed when he initially poured that concentrated stuff on the ground? It could be literally thousands. And since Toomer's corner is a local landmark/photo op, it could have exposed countless children as well.

Dow claims that tebuthiuron doesn't cause cancer in laboratory tests but it's clear by their warning label, you dont want to touch it, breathe it, or ingest it. Also, it's very likely no one has a clue what exposure to tebuthiuron would do to developing fetuses or children for that matter.

"Al" was motivated by fandom and his target was a sports symbol but the potential harm his actions could cause go a lot deeper than those viewing this through a sports/fandom prism might appreciate.

This guy created a small scale environmental disaster that may result in roughly a city block being dug up.

[KoryMac5]

From an Auburn paper:

Tom McCauley, environmental program manager at the department of risk management and safety, said it is not likely that the herbicide would get into the drinking water supply.

“The migration of this material through that clay would be very difficult,” McCauley said.

The drinking water supply for Auburn is 150 to 250 feet below the ground surface.

Dude was an idiot and I would imagine he will be footing the bill for the clean up for the rest of his life. Had he not called a few people and said something the damage could have been devestating including the chance of poisoning the drinking water of thousands. I would imagine the charges filed will be pretty heavy as stupidity is no excuse.

[cumberlandreds]

Originally Posted by Sea Ray

What are you basing that on? The article clearly stated there was no danger to humans:

To clarify, I meant humans could get killed not by dying from this herbicide which we know they cannot. It only takes one lunatic to take revenge and kill a coach or player by whatever means,guns,knife or whatever.

[Roy Tucker]

I just think that they ought to apply every possible law they can to what this moron did. Scour the city, county, state, and federal books and hammer him with whatever you can.

No, its not a tragedy in the sense of human life loss. But it is a stupid tragedy to kill off these irreplaceable trees. Some things just can't be replaced and I imagine these trees can't.

[Danny Serafini]

Originally Posted by Hoosier Red

I think there's a certain block in someone's brain that says "I'll kill the Auburn trees. Won't that be funny," that shows a lack of appreciation for living things that can certainly be correlated to behavior which could harm humans later. It may not, but I don't think it's a huge leap to suggest it's a very real possibility.

Either you respect and value life, or you don't. Anyone who would so blatantly and maliciously kill off a living thing for no reason other than to piss off another school certainly doesn't value life.

I could get on board with this line of thinking if he had cut the head off of Uga or Bevo or something of that nature, but there's a big difference between animal life and plant life. What you're basically saying is landscaping is murder (exaggerated I know, but still). I took a small tree out by my house last year, does that make me a potential danger to humans?