In honor of all that is Irish today, the Chicago River be will turned emerald green. The temporary make-over has happened every St. Patrick’s Day since 1962. Most people think the city is responsible for the dye job, but it’s actually the Plumbers’ Union. And organizer Mike Butler says, the group’s in high demand.
BUTLER: We get calls from all over the world. The thing is that everybody is interested in dying something and I guess they kind of look upon us now as the experts.
You might be wondering just what’s in that stuff. Butler won’t say.
BUTLER: We’re very proud of it and as they say, we kind of kept it our own secret. We never let that secret out.
But U.S. EPA spokesperson Phillipa Cannon spilled the beans. She says the plumbers mix up a non-toxic dye often used to find leaks in pipe connections.
But Butler maintains Irish magic lends a hand.