Efforts this week to remove a sunken off-road vehicle from the bottom of Payette Lake were unsuccessful, according to the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality.
Mountain West Commercial Diving of Boise spent Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday trying to locate the UTV, which sank in an estimated 200 feet of water after breaking through thin ice on Jan. 25.
“They used sonar, physical dives, and a remote operated vehicle starting at the entry point and worked their way out from there,” said Matthew Pabich, a waste and remediation manager for DEQ. “Ultimately the UTV was not located.”
The search spanned a “large area” around the point where the vehicle broke through the ice, with water depths ranging from about 90 feet to beyond 200 feet, Pabich said.
The divers looked for tracks or markings on the bottom of the lake with the remote operated vehicles, which function like an underwater drone, but found no signs of the vehicle.
Next steps unknown
It is currently unclear what will happen next, though DEQ expects to make a new plan as soon as next week.
“Mountain West will provide us with a report summarizing the efforts,” Pabich said. “Once we have a chance to look it over, DEQ will meet to discuss what the next steps are.”
The removal efforts are being funded by McCall resident Dan Scott, who was driving the vehicle on Jan. 25 when it broke through the ice near Mile High Marina. Scott and his passenger, Richard Scott, escaped the vehicle unharmed.
Scott, a real estate broker for Whitetail Club and the former president and general manager of Shore Lodge, previously told Valley Lookout he would not be commenting on the incident or the removal efforts.
Mountain West Diving also declined to comment to Valley Lookout on the removal effort.
The vehicle, a 2017 Polaris RZR 900S Trail, was estimated to have about seven to eight gallons of fuel in its tank when it sank.
A risk assessment conducted by DEQ following the incident concluded that the UTV posed a “very low” risk to human health and water quality in the lake.
No contaminants associated with the UTV had been found in filters at the City of McCall’s water treatment plant as of last week, according to Water Systems Manager Sabrina Sims.
