[PSUBS-MAILIST] Corps of Engineers shut down submersibles

[Jon Wallace <jonw@psubs.org>]

FYI,

Colonel Robert D. Peterson, Commanding Officer of the Huntington Area 
Corps of Engineers, issued Directive to Operations CELRH-DE on Sept 9, 
2011 prohibiting use or operation of submersible vessels in all Corps 
lakes within the boundaries of Huntington District.  This order was 
issued in response to a PSUBS member attempting to dive his submarine at 
Summersville Lake in West Virginia.

The Huntington District encompasses 45,000 square miles in parts of five 
states, including West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia and North 
Carolina.  It is responsible for 311 navigable miles along the Ohio 
River, which includes the Nation's largest Inland Waterway port, the 
Port of Huntington.

According to Alec Smyth, he had traveled to Summersville Lake in West 
Virginia to dive SNOOPY, his K-250.  Alec has dived here before, see 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12XqUORL8yc

After setting up in the parking lot, all the park rangers showed up, 
were friendly, and asked the usual questions which Alec answered and 
even invited them to inspect his submarine.  No problems were incurred 
and the dive proceeded to launch as normal.  After launching and about 
100 yards off shore Alec was asked via a loudspeaker to return to the 
shore.  At this time there were a bunch of police officers and an FBI 
agent.  The FBI agent asked for ID's, which were provided, and after 
verifying Alec and others with him, reported that everything had checked 
out fine.  However, the agent also had some bad news for Alec telling 
him that the Corps of Engineers Commander had just issued an order 
prohibiting submersibles from diving in any Huntington District lakes or 
waterways based upon concerns of safety and infrastructure.

Not only has Alec dived in Summersville Lake on prior occasions without 
incident, but the PSUBS 2006 convention was planned with coordination of 
the Corps of Engineers who made park facilities, picnic areas, and 
meeting rooms available to us free of charge.  Six home-built 
submersibles attended that event and dove in Raystown Lake, see
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QCwCKUKeqA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g70A6o7SaKs

I am working with Alec to draft a letter from our organization to 
Colonel Robert Peterson, to understand exactly what the issues are and 
see if we can help resolve them.  As Alec told me, this is a big blow 
because Corps lakes are pretty much all there is for diving in the mid 
Atlantic states.  This incident is almost assuredly related to the high 
alert surrounding the 9/11 tenth anniversary terrorist attack.  While 
there may be legitimate concerns about potential damage submersible 
diving could do to the submerged infrastructure of a lake (clog up a dam 
intake??), invoking an immediate prohibition on all submersible activity 
seems to be an arbitrary and premature overreaction, to me, considering 
the diving that has been done previously and the direct coordination 
provided by the Corps of Engineers for the 2006 convention.

In the interim, members planning any diving activities within the 
Huntington District Corps of Engineers should be careful to avoid this area.

Jon




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