A photo album Phil Hutchens diving Lake Wagner

Barracuda Divers of Cullman, Alabama offers dive instruction, certification and open water dive trips to Florida, Mexico and the Caribbean!

Diving Lake Wagner

On a beautiful fall October day, we received a call from US Pipe in Birmingham, Alabama. It seems that someone had accidentally driven a bobcat off into one of their sludge pits ! (An employee of US Pipe with a sense of humor has named the sludge pit Lake Wagner.) The sludge pits are used to filter the water that is being used for cooling purposes in the plant. When it first comes out of the plant, it is full of oil, grease, and black dust. Each successive pit is a little cleaner until finally it is released. However, the very first sludge pit is the worst one of all, and of course that was where the bobcat was.. 30 feet deep buried up in sludge, oil, and muck.

Ronnie Daniel and Phil Hutchens responded to the call, and after a few laughs, and postponing the entry as long as possible, Ronnie laughed as Phil jumped into the muck and began the dive. To say this was a limited vis dive would be the understatement of all time. After a few passes with the search line, the bucket of the bobcat was found (the entire bobcat was absorbed into the muck of the bottom except for the bucket) After digging a hole around the bobcat bucket, a track hoe was moved into place, the big track hoe bucket lowered into the muck, and Phil chained the two buckets together. To our relief, the chain held, the bobcat came up, and we had another job successfully completed by Barracuda Divers !

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