Tugboat McAllister
A crew from Phoenix Engineering pilots a remotely operated vehicle to inspect the Tugboat McAllister. From the Collection of the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, photo by Adam Kane.
On June 15th, a team with representatives from the EPA, Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, the McAllister Company and Phoenix Engineering conducted an observation of the sunken tugboat William H. McAllister. The team used a remotely operated submersible vehicle to search for evidence of diesel fuel either having leaked from the tug or remaining in the fuel tanks and to identify potential means by which any remaining fuel might be removed, however the results where inconclusive.
The McAllister sank in 1963 after striking Schuyler Reef. It had been pushing a fuel oil barge and the crew of the McAllister was forced to scramble aboard the barge to escape. (For more information see LCC’s April Lake Look.)
Currently the EPA is working with the US Navy to set a time for a dive on the wreck. That dive is not expected to take place until at least the spring of 2011.
