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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Dave Erickson, 66 Employee: 1959 - 1996 Dave Erickson started at Nicor on May 25, 1959. Born and raised in Yorkville,”I’ve got a lot of bitterness for the companynow because I was so damn devoted to them,” he said. “They called, I ran.” After a few years, Dave Erickson had the routine perfected.

He'd pull off to the side road and pretend he was checking the air pressure of the tires on the far side of his truck. That way, when he stood there, crouched over, no one could see him throwing up.

Raised in Yorkville, Erickson started with Nicor — known then as Northern Illinois Gas — on May 25, 1959, after considering work with several utility companies.

"I could have gone to the telephone company, but they only paid $60 a week," he said. "I guess I should have gone with the electric company. But I was scared to hell of electric,"

An All-State football player, Erickson was the model of health early on.

"I never lifted weights or anything, but I worked on the farm," he said. "I felt like I was the luckiest guy in the world. I didn't take pills or wear glasses, and all the other guys I knew were doing that."

For 24 years he was on the streets installing and repairing gas mains. When Nicor called, he ran because the company was a good place to work.

But his body kept decaying.

He started to black out at work and developed cataracts in his eyes. One day, while holding a ladder, the arches in his feet just gave out. The doctor said his blood had started to eat his bones in search of calcium.

"Every night I'd go to bed and pray for another day," he said. "And when I woke up in the morning, I'd thank Him for another day. That's how bad it was. I'd wonder about my wife and my kids, what they were going to do."

Erickson was eventually transferred to Nicor's Dixon site in what he believes was an effort to force him out. The company started to give him tasks he couldn't finish, he says. He finally retired in 1996.

His body is still a mess. There's a purple rash on his chest in the shape of a V, and he can't walk around without shoes because of the weakened bones in his feet.

Erickson said he drank the company's water — which many other employees believe was contaminated and caused serious, long-term illnesses. But he's not sure if that affected him or the mercury he routinely handled at the start of his career.

"If we spilled it, we'd take our foot and kick it in the corner of the truck or throw a rug over it," he said. "That was the times."

Now, he doesn't worry as much about his health. Instead, he fears what he might have passed along. His adult daughter uses a walker because her muscles are so weak. His son has had two sinus operations and persistent kidney problems.

"I don't know if they're suffering because it got into my genes," he said, tearing up.

Erickson now suspects that Nicor, the company he used to pledge allegiance to, purposefully ignoring his health problems.

"I might be a g-- d--- farm hand, but I know when there's a skunk in the wood pile," he said. "I salute them every time I go by on (Interstate) 88 with the fickle finger of fate. I despise them."