Public meeting Monday on possible new Lake Tuscaloosa safety regulations

Lake Tuscaloosa Image (WBRC/Terri Brewer)

TUSCALOOSA, AL (WBRC) –

A public meeting to discuss possible new regulations for docks on Lake Tuscaloosa is scheduled for Monday at 6 p.m. at the Phelps Activity Center in Tuscaloosa.

In a Facebook post by Tuscaloosa City Council President Cynthia Almond, she encourages any property owners on the lake or anyone interested in the issue to attend. The Lake Tuscaloosa area is in Almond’s district.

Tuscaloosa city officials are currently exploring new safety regulations for structures on the lake, following the death of two women earlier this year, as a result of electric shock drowning.

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Chilmark to seal off Crab Corner, post hazard signs

Chilmark will mark Crab Corner with formalized signs that indicate a shock hazard may be present in the water, selectman Jim Malkin, the board’s harbor liaison, announced at the selectmen’s July 11 meeting.

Crab Corner will also be cordoned with fencing, per a consensus reached at that meeting between the beach committee, selectmen, and executive secretary Tim Carroll. Crab Corner is a popular children’s swimming and wading spot, bookended by the Menemsha jetty and the town’s transient dock, where several people have reported feeling electric current when in contact with the water, including a group of schoolchildren on a field trip.

The signs are a national code necessity, Mr. Malkin said, and also part of an “abundance of caution” approach by the town.

Beach superintendent Martina Mastromonaco described the current hand-lettered “No Swimming” sign positioned between string-draped traffic cones as “jury-rigged,” and said she was in favor of more professional signage, but cautioned against placing placards that could be misconstrued.

“I mean, honestly, there’s sharks in the water, too, so if you put a sign up that says warning, potentially it could mean shark,” she said.

Sharks notwithstanding, she touched on other threats she perceives at Crab Corner.

“There’s a lot of potential hazards in that area,” she said. “I’ve seen kids before we had the shocking thing jumping off the dock, and you know it is a boating area.” She also said recent dredging has left the area with a steep drop-off.

Ms. Mastromonaco also expressed concern about her lifeguards’ ability to cover Menemsha Beach and Crab Corner simultaneously.

“I’m just worried because my guards are not stationed right at the entrance where people go into the water,” she said. “They’re stationed on the beach, as opposed to the last week in June, [when] they sat right in front of the corner.”

Mr. Malkin said he was open to discussing placement of a dedicated lifeguard at Crab Corner.

“Until our town electrical inspector signs off on what has been done — signs off on what we’re doing and then on what was done — I’m not willing as the liaison to the harbor to put people in potential jeopardy,” he said.

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Electric shock felt by two local kayakers on the lake
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An electric shock felt by two residents in the lake serves as a reminder for Canyon Lake residents to inspect electrical wiring to and around docks, pools and spas.

During a Canyon Lake Public Safety Committee meeting, Special Enforcement Officer Gina Dickson reported that two residents felt an electrical current when they stuck an aluminum oar in the water.

The Special Enforcement Officer stated that it was the electric wiring from a boat dock that caused the shock. The officer further explained that the city’s Building and Safety Department currently does not inspect electrical wiring to docks, but they are looking into developing a standard for running electrical to docks. When asked what steps the city will be taking regarding electrical wiring to docks, City Manager Aaron Palmer said, “The city attorney is looking into the matter to see who is responsible for enforcing wiring to docks.”

According to the non-profit Electric Shock Drowning Prevention Association, there is no visible warning or way to tell if water surrounding a boat, marina or dock is energized or within seconds will become energized with fatal levels of electricity.

Known as the silent killer, water electrocution drowning has been getting more attention since a 15 year-old girl from Alabama drowned in 2016 after receiving an electrical shock near the family’s boat dock.

The girl’s father, Jimmy Johnson, explained in an interview to CBS News that the source of the shock was a light switch that was half full of water. “When an aluminum ladder was placed in the water the electrical current traveled from the light switch down the dock, to the ladder and the surrounding water,” explained the father.

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