Coroner to speak on Yough River ruling
Fayette County’s coroner is planning a press conference Friday to discuss a state decision not to remove or alter a large rock in the Youghiogheny River that has been directly linked to at least one drowning death. The state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) recently released the decision not to alter or remove Dimple Rock. Instead, DCNR decided to focus on improving safety and educating rafters on the potential danger of the popular whitewater river.
The decision is the result of a five-year review that focused on improving safety on the lower Youghiogheny River in Ohiopyle State Park, including Dimple Rock. The Dimple Rock study was prompted after a series of drowning deaths associated with Dimple Rock rapid occurred in 2000.
Dimple Rock, a massive, pointed, triangular-shaped rock, has been the topic of discussion at inquests past, most notably the one held in 2000 after three rafting deaths occurred at the location that year.
According to DCNR, there have been 21 deaths on the lower Youghiogheny River since 1976. Eighteen have been directly related to boating. Half of the 18 are associated with Dimple Rock Rapid and Swimmers Rapid, according to the DCNR.
As a result of that inquest held nearly six years ago, a six-person Fayette County coroner’s jury recommended stronger warnings and studies of possible river changes, including completely removing the rock.
Dr. Phillip E. Reilly, Fayette County coroner, is working to finalize plans for the press conference. He said Wednesday that the Dimple Rock decision, other safety improvements are under way.
“Other things are in place and have been in place,” said Reilly, noting Ohiopyle State Park Manager John Hallas and his team are sensitive to those who lost loved ones because of the rapid’s swift current. “Everybody locally wants to ratchet up the safety without losing the adventure of whitewater rafting. And they’ve been trying very diligently to do a lot.”
After the 2000 inquest, DCNR decided to conduct a public review involving professional members of the whitewater boating community, federal whitewater resource managers, outfitters, the public and engineers.
While the group recommended no change, DCNR took the additional step of contracting Pittsburgh-based Maguire Group Inc. to review engineering solutions, according to a news release from DCNR.
The contractor studied six options, including filling in under the rock, creating a collar around the rock and removing the rock completely. The Penn State University hydrology department created a scale model to observe water flow patterns related to the various options.
The study concluded that modifications might create new problems and would not reduce the risks of flipping rafts.
“There are risks associated with whitewater rafting, and we will continue to work to make sure that boaters are aware of those risks, and have assessed their own abilities and preparedness in light of them,” said DCNR Secretary Michael DiBerardinis in the press release.
“Boating safety on the Lower Youghiogheny will continue to be enhanced by boater education, warnings, portage opportunities that allow you to walk your craft around the rock and contract-required improvements to outfitter operating procedures,” DiBerardinis said.
Ohiopyle Park manager since 2004, Hallas is scheduled to attend Friday’s press conference.
Hallas Wednesday detailed enhancements continue to be made to make the rafting route safer. Changes so far include a portage route around Dimple Rock and signs telling people that there is a portage and that dangerous rapids are ahead.
Hallas said an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) is available and a Stokes Basket, which can help rescuers transport injured rafters on backboards to the shore, is available on site. Also, ambulances can travel to the site thanks to the bike trail and emergency helicopter can land in the park, he said.
Rafters can view an updated safety video at the launch area and the four rafting outfitters are continuously looking to improve safety standards, Hallas said.
And, since the lower Yough is a “Class III” river, a guided tour is recommended for first time or novice rafters, he said.
Hallas said guide-assisted trips weren’t always the standard. But since the promotion of these trips began about three years ago, more rafters are taking advantage of the guided tours.
Although it is one of the major hazards on the lower stretch of the Youghiogheny River, Dimple Rock and its accompanying undercurrents aren’t the only hazards, according to Hallas.
“Every drowning or near-drowning has its own unique complications and makeup. The causes are varied,” he said.
The void space underneath Dimple Rock was pinpointed as the cause of one death years ago.
On Sept. 16, 2000, 16-year-old Andrea Yealy of Littlestown, near Gettysburg, died after an inflatable kayak on which she rode was forced under water and did not resurface. After a several hour search for the girl, rescuers returned early the next day and pulled Yealy’s body from underneath Dimple Rock.
Yealy was not on a guided tour.
But, a man who died that same year, Stewart W. Hill, 63, of Andover, Ohio, was on a guided tour down the rapids. Hill died on Sept. 7 when he fell out of a raft carrying six people down the river.
Hallas said the main hazard is the current that drives the rafts toward Dimple Rock. The main current channels rafts to the left-hand side of the river, pulling vessels against Dimple Rock and causing them to strike its side, flipping the raft and sending its passengers either under the rock or flushing them out.
Yet, rafters willing to challenge the river’s rapids number in the thousands. Last year, 90,000 experienced the Yough’s raging waters.
No drowning deaths have occurred at Dimple Rock for the last couple of years, while a near drowning occurred in 2004, noted Hallas.