Dive weed removal company fined over $730k after violations connected to employee's death
COLUMBIA HEIGHTS, Minn. — The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry and Minnesota Occupational Safety and Health Administration have fined a scuba diving weed removal company over $730,000 for violations of commercial diving operations after an employee drowned during a dive.
In May 2024, 18-year-old Joe Anderson died while working his summer job with Your Lake Aquatic Plant Management. At the time, he was on one of his first dives clearing Lake Lac Lavon of weeds and debris. He did not surface from his dive.
According to a MNOSHA report, Anderson's coworkers noticed they had not seen bubbles and they found him in 15-20 feet of water. He was unresponsive and his regulator wasn't in his mouth at the time. Anderson's coworkers were able to get him from the water and he was taken to a nearby hospital, but Anderson died a few days later.
In November, MNOSHA Compliance issued five willful violations of the commercial diving operation standard. MNOSHA's investigation found the employees did not have the experience or training necessary to perform work safely, the employees were not trained in CPR or first aid, there was no safe-practices manual and a standby diver was not available while diving operations took place.
Your Lake Aquatic Plant Management has filed a Notice of Contest against the violations.
The Dakota County Sheriff's office is still investigating the incident and is working the the county attorney's office.
A similar death occurred in June 2022. A 20-year-old died on Lake Minnetonka after doing similar work for a different company.
Note the above video originally aired on May 28, 2024
