John Oliver Memorial Sewer Plant

In November 2017, the city of Danbury, Connecticut, agreed to pay $100,000 for a violation of the Clean Water Act, after a lawsuit from the Connecticut Fund for the Environment alleged that Danbury had allowed over 45,000 US gallons (170,000 L; 37,000 imp gal) of untreated sewage to flow into local streams, including the Still River.[1] Danbury mayor Mark Boughton blamed the release of the sewage on heavy storms that overwhelmed the existing wastewater infrastructure. Boughton also commented that plans were already underway for a $100 million upgrade to its sewage plant to help rectify the issue.[2]

John Oliver in 2016

On August 16, 2020, John Oliver, a comedian and satirist, went on a tangential diatribe on his television program Last Week Tonight with John Oliver while airing a segment on jury selection in the United States to satirize the city of Danbury. Oliver was discussing computer errors in a Connecticut jury selection system that caused it to ignore Hartford and New Britain in jury selection when he remarked: "If you're going to forget a town in Connecticut, why not forget Danbury? Because, and this is true, fuck Danbury!"[3] While Oliver mentioned the Danbury Railway Museum and Hearthstone Castle in his segment, referring to the former as "charming",[4] he further declared that "Danbury, Connecticut, can eat my whole ass".[3][5] It was unclear why Oliver chose to single out Danbury for mention.[5][6]

Danbury citizens responded to Oliver's segment, with the YouTube channel "Danbury Hat Tricks" referring to Oliver tongue-in-cheek as an "intrepid, serious reporter" and proceeding to poke fun at his roles in The Smurfs and Wonder Park.[7] In addition, Boughton announced on Facebook that the city would be renaming their sewage plant the "John Oliver Memorial Sewer Plant", explaining that "it's full of crap, just like you, John".[3][7]

Oliver responded positively to the proposed name change on his show, but then aired a clip of the mayor telling reporters that he was joking and did not actually intend to rename the sewer plant, and proceeded to further insult Boughton and Danbury, remarking: "You had the first good idea in your city's history and you chicken out on the follow-through. What a classic Danbury move."[7] Oliver ended the segment by offering $55,000 to local Connecticut charities, including $25,000 to the Connecticut Food Bank, in exchange for the plant being renamed after him.[5][8] If Danbury declined the offer, Oliver threatened to donate the same amount to neighboring towns, including Waterbury and Torrington.[8] On September 6, Boughton said that he would accept Oliver's offer, on the condition that Oliver be physically present upon the sewer plant's opening ceremony, which featured a ribbon cutting.[9] On October 9, Danbury's city council voted to rename the plant after Oliver.[6] On October 18, Oliver aired a segment on his show in which he gave a speech at the opening ceremony of the John Oliver Memorial Sewer Plant wearing a makeshift hazmat suit:

This place takes the worst that humanity can produce, and transforms it into something that we can live with. And now more than ever, there's something inspirational in that, because at the end of this awful, awful year, what could be more important than evidence that, if we want to, we can come together, overcome our differences and sort our shit out.[10]