Home FEATURE STORY Ruben Luna Bruce Brummel Libby Thompson Bill Sinn Dave Erickson Tom Schultz Anna Sutton Anonymous Dana Weese Bill Fleming Update:Nicor denies contamination issue again Denise CrosbyDenise Crosby weighs in. Find out more. The Documents View Gallery Download .pdfs The Culprit? Workers at the Nicor plant in Aurora believe methylene chloride was leaking into drinking water at the plant How can your water go bad ? Without a fairly simple device, it’s easy for polluted water to back up into your shower. Download the page Read More Peril in the pipes Backflow problems have had serious consequences in the United States. Find out more. Additional Links Nicor Co. Information via Google Nicor Corporate Homepage OSHA Homepage Credits Story by:
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Anonymous Employee: Over 20 Years His fingernails are short, chewed down below the ends of his fingers. His eyes are hollowed out, worn in after years of doctor visits with no answer for his most important question: Why is my body giving up?

And yet, this current Nicor employee feels like he can't get away from the people he believes are responsible for his troubles.

This worker spoke to The Beacon News on the condition of anonymity. He wanted to talk about Nicor and the problems he believes were caused by drinking contaminated water at the Aurora facility on River Street.

But he still gets his paycheck from there. And, more importantly, the company pays his health insurance, the parachute he needs now more than ever.

"I'll probably get fired if they figure I talked to you," he says. "It was a decent place to work when I started."

Back then, he was the guy who'd come out, dig up your yard and fix the gas line. He was never a big guy — only about 160 pounds, but he was strong and able to work in the cold or sun for hours.

But in late 1999, his body started collapsing. He had blood in his urine, polyps on his liver and he couldn't control his bodily functions. He didn't mention it to any of his co-workers.

"When you come to work and crap your pants, you don't want to talk to anybody about it," he says.

But the rest of the staff saw something was wrong. By 2002, he had lost almost 60 pounds and doctors couldn't find a reason. They ordered test after test with no results. Only insurance kept him from going broke.

So he's still working at Nicor, while supporting Bruce Brummel and other ex-employees in their fight against the company. But he has to stay on the sidelines. He says there are plenty of others like him: in pain, alone and unwilling to put their family's health insurance in jeopardy. So they stay put and shut up.

"I'm at my wit's end," he says.