FALLON, Nevada (17 Sep 2004) -- Pyramid Lake in northern Nevada, so named because of a pyramid shaped rock just off its southern shore, is part of the Paiute Indian Reservation and is home to the legendary cutthroat trout. Clark Gable and other celebrities of the 20's and 30's were known to make the trek to this remote location some 60 miles northwest of Naval Air Station (NAS) Fallon to angle for the huge lake trout. Because of their popularity and a need to feed the mining towns cropping up throughout the west, the cutthroat disappeared by the 1940's. By that time United States Navy F6F Hellcats and F4U-1D Corsairs could be seen skimming the surrounding hillsides as they lined up strafing runs on the lake. The Pyramid Lake Piaute Indian Tribe leased a portion of the 26-mile long lake to the U.S. Navy from 1944 to 1946. During that time the site, also known as Target Number 14, was used as a training facility for U.S. Navy pilots to practice over-water weapons deliveries. Records show pilots conducted target practice by firing small rockets at wooden barrels moored on the lake as well as flying low-level torpedo runs. Following each practice run the inert ordnance was recovered and recycled for future training, but much of the ordnance was irretrievable. The means to locate the smaller ordnance on the lake bottom did not exist in the mid-forties, and there it sat, until recently. Navy divers from Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Mobile Unit 11 Detachment Fallon, as well as Sailors from other EOD detachments from Washington state, in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), worked at Pyramid Lake in August to identify and clear inert ordnance and to ensure safety at the former World War II target range during 'Operation Sutcliff Rocket Lift'. The project was initiated after Tribal leaders heard rumors from fishermen and others about military material seen in the lake. The Tribe informed the Native American Land Environmental Mitigation Program (NALEMP) of the reports. NALEMP is a DoD program that consults, communicates and coordinates with tribal governments to address impacts from past DoD activities, while being responsive and sensitive to tribal needs and concerns. NALEMP ensured that the Pyramid Lake Piaute Indian Reservation was put on the Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS) list. FUDS is responsible for the environmental restoration of formerly owned or used defense sites. After receiving funding approval, USACE organized efforts to identify and recover materials in Pyramid Lake. USACE contracted David Evans and Associates (DEA), a company that specializes in the use of an under water sonar that detects and locates material. In April, DEA did an underwater sweep of Pyramid Lake, using a remote operated vehicle (ROV). The ROV carries a video camera that records and returns images of items. DEA employed the ROV to see how much material was in the lake. After their investigation of the lake, DEA gave the report to FUDS who asked the Navy if they could help with the recovery of the questioned materials. Knowing where to look was important to the dive team. "Whenever you're searching for something, a diver can go straight down and find what he's looking for the first time, or he can go down and spend days looking for something and never find it," said Senior Chief Hull Technician (DSW/SW/MDV) Boy Kayona, division officer, Dive Division EODMU 11. Diving on the ordnance left from WWII training evolutions was an extremely time consuming effort for EOD. Reaching depths of 100 feet is tricky under any circumstances, but add to that the elevation of the lake, some 1,000 feet above sea level, and the technical know-how required for safe diving becomes even more important. | | "There's a lot of number crunching, times, depths, whether a diver's clean, how long he's been on the surface. You can see, there's a lot of thinking that goes into who we're putting in and when, keeping track of the times. That's making this take longer," explained Kayona. "We've been recovering small rockets and 50 caliber munitions, most of them were tracer rounds, which showed no signs of decay," said 2nd Class Interior Communications (EOD/PJ) Wendy Schuss of EODMU 11 Det. Fallon. The small arms rounds were still in their original packaging, which proved to be impervious to the elements. "As a matter of fact they were still shiny, which was really surprising being that they were under water for so long," she said. During the 12-day operation Navy divers recovered 207 rockets and 500 pounds of small arms munitions. NAS Fallon's Weapons department sent Sailors to the lake with proper packaging materials. The ordnance was then stored in the base weapons facility. The next day the weapons department delivered the materials to Bravo - 19 (an air-to-ground bombing range used by NAS Fallon) with help from NAS Fallon Seabees and properly disposed of the recovered materials. "We didn't expect to find so much out there. Previous ROV searches indicated far less than we recovered. What we did find was extremely degraded from being under water for 60 years. I believe the threat to have been minimal. I don't recommend any one who accidentally retrieves something while fishing retain it. They should put it back gently and call local authorities," said Senior Chief Hull Technician (EOD), Daniel Gross assistant officer-in-charge, EODMU 11 Det. Fallon and the Pyramid Lake's Clean-up site supervisor. DEA also participated in the recovery. They employed an ROV that puts "pingers", or marking beacons in the lake. A "pinger" is an audible device that allows divers to find materials. Diving teams carried a 2-Alpha. The 2-Alpha is a type of sonar with waterproof headphones that allows divers to hear the "pingers". "We have to work together as a team and it's been progressing well, having the Navy come along with the ROV is really expediting the recovery process," said Jon Dasler, DEA vice president. Dasler also employed the remotely operated vehicle that carries the video camera to track images of items the sonar found. Divers felt the same way. "Our teams really gelled, we were able to save a lot of time and money because of the mutual cooperation," said Schuss. For the Native Americans who live around the lake, the effort has been long overdue. "The Tribal Council approves of the cooperative agreement between all of the agencies involved," said Gerry Emm, environmental director for the Pyramid Lake Piaute Tribe. "There's people [in the tribe] who really see the end and after this project is done, it has worked out to be a win-win for everybody, in the regard of having the Navy come out to the lake," said Emm. Today the lake attracts hundreds of anglers seeking the elusive and coveted cutthroat trout where the world record still stands from 1925 when a Paiute tribe member named Johnny Skimmerhorn brought in a 41-pounder. Currently it is not uncommon to catch 10-pounders from the shoreline and with the help of local, federal and Department of Defense agencies safeguarding the lake, someday Skimmerhorn's record may fall. SOURCE - Navy Compass |
