"Bubbly Creek is the nickname given to the South Fork of the Chicago River's South Branch, which is noted for its pollution.
Originally a wetland, during the 19th century channels were dredged to increase the rate of flow into the river and dry out the area. The South Fork became an open sewer for the Chicago stockyards, especially the Union Stock Yards. Meatpackers used fat (as lard), hides and flesh (as meat), but blood and entrails usually found their way into the nearest river.[1] The creek received so much blood and offal that it began to bubble methane and hydrogen sulfide gas from the products of decomposition.[2]. Two heavily polluted streams that joined to create the south fork were filled in, and their courses can still be seen today in the configuration of streets and rail lines in the area. By the 1990s the only living metazoans in the creek were huge numbers of bloodworms feeding on the estimated two meters of rotting blood in the bed of the hypoxic creek[3].
The creek has remained toxic to the present day; as late as 1950, a resident remembers the air being "rancid". Some wildlife and vegetation has returned in recent decades, and the area has been increasingly occupied by residential development such as Bridgeport Village. Areas near the creek have been designated for recreational uses including parks, and developers and the city agreed on a 60-foot setback to allow for remediation."Link
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