Crews remove floating bog in Fox Lake

A small portion of Route 59 in Fox Lake was closed temporarily Thursday while officials from the Fox Waterway Agency removed a large floating bog that broke free due to recent floods and blocked the opening to Squaw Creek, officials said.

Joseph Keller, executive director of the Fox Waterway Agency, said the bog was one of several on the Chain O' Lakes that became loose over the last two weeks. He described the bogs as the "opposite of an iceberg," in that there is very little land mass below the surface of the water.

During high-water events like the Chain and Fox River experienced in recent weeks, the vegetation that hold the bogs in place can break free and cause the mass to float across the waterway, oftentimes becoming lodged under bridges or slamming into piers.

Keller said the Fox Waterway Agency, village of Fox Lake, and Illinois Department of Transportation worked together to scoop the bog out from where it was trapped at the Route 59 bridge at Grand Avenue and haul it to a drying site.