The sad times we live in

[Amelia]

Vandals Drain Lake at Salvation Army Camp

By MICHELLE SAXTON

Associated Press Writer

April 19, 2005

SCOTT DEPOT, W.Va. -- Vandals drained a lake at a Salvation Army camp where hundreds of underprivileged children go canoeing and fishing every summer.

Camp Happy Valley's caretaker, David Stover, returned from vacation Saturday to find only about 2 feet of water in Lake Mary Beth, which normally is 12 to 14 feet deep.

"It was pretty sad," Stover said Tuesday, next to the muddy remains in the wooded mountains about 20 miles west of Charleston. "It's very uncalled for, very heartbreaking."

State police are investigating. Whoever drained the lake used a temporary pipeline recently installed over an earthen dam between the lake and a creek. The pipeline had been set up in case the lake needed to be drained and the dam fixed.

Stover said that the self-siphoning pipeline was used to pump an estimated 250,000 gallons of water into the creek over about 10 hours. The deluge led to the collapse of a nearby road that leads to a 45-foot climbing wall and a challenge course of cables and ropes for the youngsters.

Camp officials hope to get enough rain to fill the 25- by 60-yard lake by June 13, the start of camp. Otherwise, water could be brought in from another lake. About 900 youngsters are expected to attend the camp this summer.

Repairing the lake and the road is expected to cost at least $30,000, or about a tenth of the camp's annual budget. Stover was optimistic everything could be restored by the time camp starts.

"We'll fix it," he said. "We're not going to let some irresponsible vandals bring us down."