Chris, this is excellent. The truth about rebreather "technology" is
that there is nothing new under the sun - Stone has made the same
mistakes that exist in other eletronic rb's and has added many levels of
complication and confusion that add to the risk of an already bad bet (
a bad bet is when you lose, you die, no matter what the odds). Couple
that with this man's compulsion to prove something ( that his risky
methods work), the desperate nature of his divers, and the fact that he
owes anybody and everybody in this project with the clear fact that he
knows nothing about cave diving and you have a stituation that not only
the WKPP avoided, but the entire real diving community shunned.

What was left were people we would not let in the water , equipment that
is dangerous and useless, preceedures that are dangerously stupid ( like
riding one faulty scooter to hell and back with inadequate backup). The
methods used on this project will not be usefull anyplace else ( bells
and chambers). The rb's don't have enough scrubber to do a real dive and
decompression the way we do, the two scooters they have  burn twice as
long as ours but each cost as much as ten of ours ( our team has 70
scooters), so are impractical from a diving or money point of view, the
rebreather costs three times as much as ours which is more than adequate
gas leverage for any dive possible, and in general nothing these guys
did can be used anyplace in diving or represents anything but a huge
circus. There is nothing to be learned here from these guys other than
how not to do something. They did a cheesy version of commercial diving
with amateur players and a ton of good luck which started to run out
towards the end.

  I would like to see any one of those mutants do a dive anyplace else
in Leon Sinks and walk away from it. No way. I'd like to see that
ridiculous mapper used anyplace else. Ours can be checked on to any
airline as luggage. I would also like to point out the cave radio, which
is really how these guys are positioning OUR survey, is the oldest trick
in the books. Sallot is going to Litle River this weekend to photgraph
the well pipe that was put in there twenty years ago using that method,
and sending it to the DEP.


I would also like to point out that Olivier Isler used to use three
rebreathers and dive solo until he met us. Now he uses three
reabreathers, but he also puts safety bottles in the cave and uses a
team approach like the WKPP. One of Olivier's rebreathers is
"electronic" - that is the tiny one he wears as his third backup. He
feels the same way I do - if your choice is dying or using an electronic
rb in a cave, then break it out, but why do it if it is not necessary?
In a cave, it is an unneceasry risk when there are such clear
alternatives that work so well. Bear in mind that Olivier refused to
have anything to do with Wakulla 2 for the same reasons we did.

Chris Werner wrote:
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Chris Werner <werner@qu*.gl*.fs*.ed*>
> To: Jan Pudlow <jdpudlow@ta*.co*>
> Date: Friday, February 19, 1999 10:32 AM
> Subject: Re: wakulla project
> 
> >Jan, the current situation with the USDCT and unfortunate death of Dr.
> >Kendell bring up several safety questions.  We, the WKPP, feel that this
> >death and the other three accidents that have taken place at Wakulla in the
> >past few weeks could have been prevented.  When Dr. Bill Stone was first
> >thinking of running an expedition to Wakulla he had asked us, the WKPP, to
> >be a part of it. We declined for several reasons.
> >     First, the lack of serious testing for his experimental electronic
> >rebreather was obvious. In a National Geographic sponsored expedition of
> >Bill Stone's to Hautla cave, Mexico, Ian Rolland had died using the
> >rebreather. His death was attributed to diabetes, but he was diving the
> >rebreather at the time of his death. We considered the lack of screening
> for
> >expedition members, concerning health related problems, to be insufficient,
> >as well as testing of this equipment.
> >    Second, Stone's insistence that his electronic rebreather was safe and
> >efficient, concerned us. This blinding attitude toward using and developing
> >new technologies, when other more reliable forms of equipment exist, made
> >our group question his decision making ability. He is highly invested in a
> >firm called Cis-Lunar which manufactures the electronic rebreather.
> >    Third, instead of asking us how we had accomplished our overwhelming
> >success through proper gear configuration, diver technique and safety
> >protocol, Stone insisted that he knew a better way to do things and if we
> >wanted to dive we would have to follow his rules.  These examples were
> >completely unacceptable to our organization, which had developed proven
> >safety protocols over thousands of man-hours of training.
> >    We also considered Stone's choice of other divers a serious liability
> to
> >our outstanding safety record. Stone consistently wanted to use unqualified
> >and dangerous maverick divers from the international diving community to
> >perform these dives. These divers had no formal training or experience in
> >the extremely deep caves south of Tallahassee. Many had come to the WKPP
> >wanting to dive. After an initial check out dive by members of our team,
> >these divers were found to be unacceptable and far below our minimum
> >requirements for attitude, proficiency, and skill level. We promptly
> >conveyed our position to them in the hope of preventing further accidents.
> >To bring novices to the these sites with the goal of exploring the caves,
> >was to us, completely and utterly alarming. Stone's lack of respect for
> >divers lives and safety is unacceptable. With an attitude like this, it no
> >wonder that the medical doctor who treated one of those injured during this
> >project raised concerns.
> >    Today's democrat article, 02/19/98,  by Jeffrey McMurray quoting
> Richard
> >Nordstrom, president of Cis-Lunar, is a completely false statement and an
> >utter lie. There have been many accidents and this is the second fatality
> >(ref. National Geographic V.188, no. 3 Sept. 1995). This may be a second
> >cover-up to mislead those officials involved in the investigation. There
> >always seem to be other circumstances that have caused the diver's death,
> >but the simple fact of the matter is that they were using this electronic
> >rebreather when the they died. There is too much coincidence for someone
> not
> >be asking questions.
> >
> >I hope you will investigate further the other three accidents and this
> >latest fatality and report, to the best of your ability, the real story
> >here. Other lives may be hanging in the balance, as Bill Stone attempts to
> >prove himself and his electronic rebreather for  commercial gain.
> Hopefully,
> >his permit will not be renewed.
> >
> >Sincerely,
> >Chris Werner
> >WKPP
>

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