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The fourth annual DES White Pond Cleanup in Concord, MA, USA, on 
April 30, 1994, was successful. We had beautifully sunny weather, and 
the water temp had jumped to almost 50 F at the surface. (I wore my 
wetsuit for the first time this year as a personal declaration of 
Spring, and it was adequate for two dives.)

We had 21 divers in the water, and 12 of those were very experienced. 
(I make a distinction between "experienced" and "advanced," with 
"experienced" signifying a level of diving expertise well beyond 
"advanced.") There were only two relative novices in the crew, and 
they contributed as much or more than anybody else to the effort. We 
would dearly have loved to see a lot more novices participating.

The Friends of White Pond -- who provided excellent surface support 
and a veritable feast afterward -- and I would like to thank each and 
every one of these divers:

Michael Bollen (Waltham, MA)		John Kearney (Ravena, NY)

Alan Budreau (Concord, MA)		Bill LeBarge (Albany, NY) *

Jeff Burns (Ravena, NY)			Don Lee (Waltham, MA)

Bernard Chico (Clifton Ridge, NY)	Maria Maggio (Watertown, MA)

Joe Gobbini (Hudson, MA)		Rich Mathew (Leominster, MA)

Don Goodrey (Shrewsbury, MA)		Chris Mayer (Natick, MA)

Bob Hanson (Rumson, NJ)			Jim Lukowski (Shrewsbury, MA)

Gordon Henderson (Waltham, MA)		Don Persico (Ravena, NY)

Mark Hopewell (West Boylston, MA)	Ray Wallace (Leominster, MA)

Jan Jones (Maynard, MA)			Ray Weeth (Lexington, MA)

[* For those of you who haven't met him yet, Bill LeBarge is a Live 
Wire. He exudes energy the way a high-power line hums. Full of heart, 
willing and able, he's one of those guys you want around when things 
go sour. (This is just my snapshot appraisal, but I honestly think 
it's accurate.) Of course, if you meet him in a social situation, 
you're going to wonder when you're going be able to speak.<g> 
Underwater, it's a different situation, as we all know.]

The Albany team brought heavy lifting equipment and retrieved, among a 
multitude of other things, two truck engine blocks that have defied us 
for three years. Next year we're going to mark the remaining 
radiators, engine blocks, and boats for them so they don't have to 
spend so much time looking. (Even with explicit directions such as 
"Swim straight out to 25 feet and turn left," it takes a while to find 
what you're looking for.)

Everybody filled grainbag after grainbag with miscellaneous trash 
consisting mainly of bottles, cans, and discarded plastic. Barrels, a 
water tank, a radiator, a beer keg, and tires also came up. All told, 
we filled a 10-yarder dumpster to overflowing and surrounded it with 
the large, heavy objects that just wouldn't fit.

Divers who showed up and helped the Friends of White Pond provide 
surface support were the Ruklics and the Hambletons. (That's four 
divers who, I suspect, may get into the water next year now that they 
understand that the hard work underwater is easier than the hard work 
on the surface. <g>)

Our goal is to have this pond clean and respected by the year 2000. 
It's a worthwhile goal. 

It is a singular pond. There are very few like it anywhere in the 
world.

It has been mismanaged by the state agencies, and it has been abused 
by past residents. Everybody's attracted to its clear cold water, and 
almost everybody's mindlessly contributing to the clouding of that 
water.

That's what we're working to reverse.

I think we may very well succeed,

Thank you again to all those divers who went underwater and to those 
who stayed on the surface and helped pull the heavy stuff in.

John H-C
Diver's Environmental Survey, Inc.



P.S. Perhaps I unconsciously portrayed the annual cleanup of White 
Pond as something requiring a high level of diving knowledge. Such is 
not the case. I hope that next year we can get twice as many novices 
plying the shore-to-30-feet waters as experienced divers working the 
heavy objects out of the depths. All divers are welcomed and 
appreciated at these events. We hope you can join us next spring, 
wherever you are in the world. This is an opportunity for divers to 
make a REAL difference, to set an example, and to realize that the 
ability to go underwater doesn't mean that all you can do is complain 
when you see something wrong.

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