Truck will be removed from lake on Thursday

GILFORD — The 48-hour window came and went, and a sunk truck remains at the bottom of Lake Winnipesaukee. Staff of the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services has scheduled a recovery effort for Thursday, which will be billed to the owner of the Honda Ridgeline.

The truck has been on the lake floor since March 13, when the Gilford owner was ice fishing, and drove the truck over a thin patch of ice. It was partially submerged at first, but when trying to get it out, the truck sunk to the bottom, in about 50 feet of water.

NH DES staff saw no visible sheen to indicate an oil or gas leak, and on March 16, Public Information Officer Jim Martin said a local contractor deployed a submersible drone to check the area. At that point, the ice conditions were not stable, and the contractor told NH DES staff the recovery would come after ice out. The department opted not to issue a fine, as long as the owner made attempts to remove it.

The owner of the truck has since been trying to recover it to no avail, which included “high risk” efforts NH Fish and Game Conservation Officer Chris Bryson said he wouldn't recommend. The owner, and other helpers, did manage to move the truck underwater from Dockham Shore area to about 0.75 miles off the coast of Gilford Town Beach.

Martin said Monday the truck owner was not able to remove it within the 48 hour window, which ended Saturday. He said the DES Spill Response and Complaint Investigation section has taken over, and contracted with Green Site Services, of Dover.

“A team of people will go out there and get the truck to remove it from the water,” Martin said. “It is going to be brought up and pulled over to the Marine Patrol Facility at Glendale on Thursday.”

The recovery operation will be a collaborative effort involving Green Site Services, Dive Winnipesaukee, and Marine Solutions.

Martin said NH DES staff have also been in contact with Fish and Game and Marine Patrol, but now the recovery is in the hands of subcontractors.

“At the moment, we will take this step by step, and get it removed from the water,” Martin said. “The owner will be responsible for reimbursing the cost of the operation.”

Town leaders were upset with the process. Town Administrator Scott Dunn said during the April 8 selectboard meeting he went to the town beach to confront the owner during the recovery effort. This involved attaching a winch to a tree, among other makeshift endeavors that allegedly involved creating a canal through the ice with a chainsaw.

Selectboard members and other town leaders voiced major concern the truck could be contaminating the water, and cause environmental damage to the beach if it were dragged up.

Following the meeting, Dunn reached out to Executive Councilor Joe Kenney for help, to push NH DES to be more proactive. When Kenney was a state senator two decades ago, he sponsored a bill about removing vehicles from state waterways. The bill has since become law, and Kenney worked swiftly to reach out to NH DES staff. He brought it up during the April 13 Governor and Executive Council meeting, where he discussed the matter with NH DES Commissioner Robert Scott.

The Gilford Selectboard held a special meeting on April 15, and voted 3-0 vote to allow NH DES staff to use the beach for recovery, but without equipment.

In the days following the initial submersion of the truck, the owner was provided with contact information for professionals to assist. Charlie Watkins, a commercial diver for Dive Winnipesaukee, based in Wolfeboro, said the owner reached out to him, but said they couldn't afford the price.

Watkins explained the process, saying he will be onsite as a safety diver on the surface, while divers Nick Sackos and Matt Sharpe will go underwater. He said they will go down with their own air supply, carrying cylinders and lit bags to fill between 250 and 500 pounds. He noted even though supplies can handle 250 pounds, the burden is lighter under water. A bag will be placed on each axel for balance, and allow the truck to rise to the surface.

There are risks, Watkins said, including if bags are over-filled. The bags have dump valves, so if they expand too rapidly, there could be a large dump of air at the surface, causing the truck to fall back down and present a hazard for the divers.

Watkins said they are prepared and knowledgeable, thanks to their ample experience.

“The fact that there is no ice is big,” Watkins said. “That is kind of a big relief, because getting something up and over the ice is hard, but we have open water and a barge.”

Tom Wachsmuth, owner of Dive Winnipesaukee, said while it is in about 50 feet of water, it should be a fairly easy recovery effort.

“This one will be very straightforward,” said Wachsmuth, who has owned the company since 1993. “We know where it is, it is in relatively shallow water, and we’ll have a few lift bags.”

Wachsmuth said they will go down and see the path of where the truck was dragged from, and be sure to clean the whole area, to make sure there is no debris left behind.

“I heard a rumor of a snowmobile down there, so we will check for that, too,” Wachsmuth said. “We will clean the site of anything that is down there from the truck. That takes time to bring stuff up, bringing it to the surface.”

Between the two, Marine Solutions and Dive Winnipesaukee are involved in about 90% of the recovery efforts in New Hampshire, Watkins said.

Watkins has been doing recoveries for about six years, and said this winter recoveries were rare, at five. There have been some winters where that number was more than tripled, he said, and they have retrieved just about any type of equipment one can think of.

Wachsmuth said in his 33 years with the company, he has retrieved boats and watercraft during the summer, and efforts in the winter can vary. This has included larger vehicles like motor homes, bulldozers, logging trucks, snowcats, and even planes.

This recovery situation is rare.

He said his company often gets hired by NH DES for recovery of abandoned items, like a vehicle, or an oil drum. When owners are involved, it becomes a different scenario all together.

Wachsmuth pointed out the truck has been down there for more than a month. He said NH DES staff are “relatively lenient,” as long as someone is making attempts. But once it becomes apparent that won’t happen, they get involved.

“This is the first time we’ve been hired from DES to take over on a recovery,” Wachsmuth said. “They don’t do this often. It’s the first time they’ve stepped in. Most of the time, we get hired to do it after a day or two of an owner trying to get it out themselves.”

Watkins said the fact there is “risk of life and limb” makes it an expensive endeavor.

During his more than three decades of experience, Wachsmuth has had less than 10 jobs with a price tag above $20,000. He said these were complicated, with heavy trucks, and a big crew. This will likely be less than half of that amount.

“If I was to ballpark it, I would say it will be between $4,000 and $10,000,” Wachsmuth. “But it is based on time and materials, and you never know what can happen.”