Death ponds

March 27, 2008
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It hardly seems like a week goes by anymore without another story about someone sliding into a suburban retention pond and losing their life or at least coming uncomfortably close.

Some ponds have become dumping grounds for cars, and now Plainfield police are looking into whether a man whose body was found in a pond was murdered.

Should developers or, in the case of apartment complexes, owners and managers, be held accountable for these problems?
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  • BrianMarch 27, 2008 10:22 AM
    Who do we hold accountable when cars wind up in natural creeks, rivers and lakes? God?
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  • BeckiMarch 27, 2008 12:49 PM
    I believe that developers and apartment complexes need to be held accountable to make the ponds safe from the get-go, and provide some type of mechanism to discourage the possibility of someone dumping a vehicle in them. There are way too many accidental drownings in these ponds, especially of small children--the nominal expense that it would cause a developer when building a community or shopping mall when compared to the life of a child would be well worth the investment.
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  • NickMarch 27, 2008 3:39 PM
    How could developers be held accountable? Most ponds and retention areas have at least a 25+ foot setback from the roads and if people are driving into them its because of alcohol or they are driving faster and more reckless than road conditions/car can handle. If some say developers should be accountable for this then the state should be accountable for people who drown in Lake Michigan at the Indiana Dunes State Park. Its silly
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  • Neil PenniesMarch 27, 2008 6:42 PM
    How about trying something new and hold people accountable for their own actions? Sounds like a novel concept today but not everything is always someone else's fault.
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  • JohnMarch 28, 2008 8:23 AM
    It strikes me as odd that we have stricter regulation on private swimming pools, typically located within a few feet of residences, than we do on giant, man-made ponds which are just as much, if not more, inviting to young children.

    Neil,

    I think that's exactly what is being proposed. If you are careless enough to place a large, water-filled hole in the ground, you should be held accountable if you don't take measures to ensure it is safe.
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  • AdamMarch 28, 2008 10:22 AM
    I dont think developers are not being carless when they make these man made ponds. These ponds are made within apartment, housing, shopping center developments so that your house, apartment, driveway and parking lot do no flood. In regards to having stricter regulatings, they are not built for the enjoyment of swiming and having a pool party in.
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  • JakeMarch 28, 2008 12:58 PM
    Developers don't want these ponds any more than the person floating in them. They are required by the County to control flooding, not for asthetics. The construction is heavily regulated by the County and not carelessly developed. They cost money for the developer to build and they reduce the amount of land that can be developed sold.
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