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Amid Opposition from Environmental Groups and the Public
Vermont Business Magazine Citing opposition from environmental groups and the public, Lake Champlain Transportation Company and Vermont Division for Historic Preservation announced on Tuesday the withdrawal of its application for a permit to sink the
Adirondack, a retired ferry, in Lake Champlain. Instead of being abandoned underwater to create an artificial reef for scuba divers, the vessel will be scrapped.
This development comes after the Lake Champlain Committee (LCC) and the Vermont Natural Resources Council (VNRC) appealed the permit by the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (VT DEC) granting approval to sink the ferry. The environmental groups emphasized harmful consequences for water quality and a lack of broad input from the public.
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An effort to create a new recreational diving site by sinking an old ferry in Lake Champlain has been sunk.
The
Adirondack, built in 1913 and measuring about 152 feet long, is said to be the oldest double-ended ferry to continue to operate in the country, according to the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development. The boat would have been scuttled and added to the Lake Champlain Underwater Historic Preserve.
“This was a once-in-a-lifetime type of opportunity,” Jonathan Eddy, manager and co-owner for Waterfront Diving Center, based in Burlington, told Boston.com. “It was a historic vessel, and that’s one of the reasons why we wanted to save it.”
Adirondack in Port Kent, N.Y. The Lake Champlain Transportation Company s plan to sink one of its retired car ferries in Burlington Bay foundered this week in the face of rising opposition. Despite winning approval from state environmental regulators, the proposal to scuttle the 108-year-old
Adirondack stirred up fears that the sunken vessel could further pollute the lake. The company and state officials on Tuesday withdrew their joint application for a permit that the state Department of Environmental Conservation had already approved in March. Environmental groups had appealed, raising the prospect of a lengthy legal battle over something the company viewed as a philanthropic endeavor.
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A plan to create a new destination for scuba divers in Lake Champlain has been reversed after pushback from environmental groups and the public.
The Lake Champlain Transportation Company and the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation planned to sink the Adirondack, a historic, double-ended ferry. The concept, known as an artificial reef, was created in the Atlantic off the coast of Delaware and New Jersey by sinking an old Coast Guard vessel. Download our mobile app for iOS or Android to get alerts for local breaking news and weather.
Instead of being set underwater to create an artificial reef for scuba divers, the vessel will now be scrapped. The Adirondack is no longer needed, since there are others in the Lake Champlain Ferries fleet.