Clarksville Cave death
Rob
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyKey=52946&BCCode=HOME&ne
wsdate=2/28/01
New Scotland -- Workers plan to drain pool-sized area to free student's
body
Despite the efforts of nearly a dozen divers, often using pry bars, the
body of an RPI student remained trapped Tuesday night in Clarksville Cave,
and rescuers now plan to empty the lake so they can chip his body free.
Divers dipped into the 40-degree water time and again Tuesday, trying to
free the body of Robert Svensson from the 18-inch-wide underwater passage
where 23-year-old native of Sherborn, Mass., became trapped Monday evening
as he and three others explored the cave.
About 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, the tired crews of divers were pulled out of the
cave and other workers moved in to set up pumps, hoping to lower the water
level in an area about the size of a backyard pool so they can complete
their task.
Svensson and his companions, Joseph Baj, 24, of Ozone Park, Queens, Michael
H. Chu, 22, of Niskayuna, and Jonathan R. Allison, 23, of Troy, entered the
cave at Ward Entrance, just off Route 443, at about 7:30 p.m. Monday.
The group's destination was the far end of the cave known as Pauley Avenue,
a 180-foot-long, inclined passage that is filled with water except for the
last 2 to 3 feet. The only access is through a hole in the bottom of the
lake in the Lake Room. The nearly 1,000-foot underground route to the Lake
Room is a 45-minute trek through narrow passageways and large, house-sized
rooms.
"There are areas that are dry and large enough to stand up in there,'' said
Keith Leonard, captain of the Onesquethaw Fire Department. "And there are
areas that are under water or where you have to exhale just to squeeze
through.''
As described by Deputy Sheriff John Layton, who has been to the bottom of
the pool and tried to retrieve the body, once through the seven-foot-long
tube where Svensson's body is trapped, the passage widens out enough so
someone can turn around.
The rest of Pauley Avenue is a 180-foot incline, all underwater, with
nothing at the end. "You have just enough room to stick your head out of
the water, take a deep breath and go back,'' said Layton, who said he has
never been to the end.
The group apparently found the underwater entranceway was clogged with silt
and other debris. Each tried to clear the spot. Then Svensson, equipped
with a small air tank and wet suit, plunged into the cold water, unwilling
to accept defeat.
On this last trip, Svensson somehow got wedged in the seven-foot-long,
twisting tunnel. Unable to move forward or back out, he apparently died
when his air supply ran out.
Layton described that first part of the Pauley Avenue trip: "Imagine
crawling along the foundation wall of a house, then having to get down into
a well and through the basement window -- all the time having no more than
two feet to work in,'' Layton said.
"We know he's caught at the hips. We don't know about the shoulders because
we can't reach up that far,'' he continued. In addition to the wet suit,
the deputy said Svensson has a narrow belt around his hips.
Svensson was using a "pony bottle'' -- a small air tank about the size of a
fire extinguisher -- for his air supply. During their initial rescue
efforts, his friends attempted to pass him additional air before calling
for help.
The divers brought in for the recovery worked until early Tuesday morning,
when they were brought out of the cave about 1:30 a.m. They returned later
in the morning, trying and reviving plans as each effort proved
ineffective.
The "lake'' in the Lake Room is about 7-to-9-feet deep and about
15-to-20-feet across. With all that water, the recovery crew is, in effect,
trying to empty a backyard swimming pool while, at the same time, several
garden hoses are trying to fill it up at about 50 gallons per minute.
"It looks like we'll have to use two pumps,'' said Adam Hornick of the
Onesquethaw Fire Department. "One, we're hoping, will even off what's
flowing in, and the other will be emptying.''
To do the pump-out, the crews are using a natural opening from outside to
the Lake Room about 25 feet up in the ceiling. Just after dark and after
divers had made a last attempt to free the body, a crew was working to
enlarge the opening, which has filled in over the years.
Special hydraulic pumps will then be lowered to the shoreline of the
underground lake. The drain lines will be going straight up, at least 25
feet, explained Hornick, which will cut the efficiency of the pumps. Also,
because the lake is underground, there is increased air pressure, which
also reduces the pump outflow.
Once the lake level is reduced, workers can get to the opening to Pauley
Avenue and chip away at the rock and slate walls where Svensson was
trapped.
Svensson was an experienced outdoorsman whose activities included rock
climbing and skiing, but was not a certified diver, according to Brian
Chouiniere, who teaches diving courses at RPI. Svensson had completed an
open-water diving course taught by Chouiniere in December but had not yet
completed the final elements of the course that would have given him
open-water certification.
"He had some experience with open-water diving but he was in no way
qualified to dive in a cave,'' Chouiniere said.
At least two of Svensson's companions, Baj and Allison, had completed
open-water diving courses with Chouiniere.
Friends and family of Svensson kept a tearful vigil near the scene. As they
awaited word of the recovery, the group consoled each other and walked
along the country road near the cave to pass the time.
Meghan Lord, a friend of Svensson's, arrived at the scene before 9 a.m.,
shortly after her father found out about the incident from the morning
news, because she wanted to be sure someone was on hand when his body was
recovered. Lord said Svensson, who taught undergraduates and wanted to be a
professor, had a great interest in caving and spent a lot of time exploring
and mapping caves around the area.
"This was not just an extreme sport to him,'' she said. "He took it
seriously.''
Local residents believe this may be the first fatality in at least a half
century at the cave, a popular attraction for cavers from around the
region. The cave is also used for training the Albany County Sheriff's
Department.
"People are in this cave 24 hours a day, seven days a week,'' said Leonard,
who lives across the street from the main entrance. "No matter what time I
come home, I see lights around it. I see charter buses and cars with
license plates from Tennessee to Vermont up here.''