On 15/09/2011, at 8:12 AM, Steve McQueen wrote:
> Jon, I agree with the decision to write the letter. I have confidence you
> will draft an intelligent letter and appreciate you taking on the effort. I
> will be very interested in the response.
>
> Thanks,
> Steve McQueen
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From:
owner-personal_submersibles@psubs.org
> [mailto:
owner-personal_submersibles@psubs.org] On Behalf Of Jon Wallace
> Sent: Wednesday, September 14, 2011 1:23 PM
> To:
personal_submersibles@psubs.org
> Subject: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Corps of Engineers shut down submersibles
>
>
> 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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