Hazard on Yough won't be touched

Nearly six years ago, Sandra and Stewart Hill took a guided whitewater rafting trip down the lower reach of the Youghiogheny River in Ohiopyle State Park.

Stewart Hill never made it back home to Ohio.

Hill, 63, drowned Sept. 7, 2000, after his raft flipped in the rapids around Dimple Rock -- an area that has been the spot of a number of rafters' deaths over the years.

After a five-year review and an engineering study of Dimple Rock, the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources announced Tuesday that it won't try altering the large rock in any way.

That stunned Sandra Hill.

"To do nothing seems to be waiting for another disaster, that's how I feel about it," Sandra Hill said from her Andover, Ohio, home yesterday. "I think it should be removed, that's my feeling."

A $100,000 engineering study commissioned by the conservation department determined that altering the rock could cause more harm than good.

"An engineering study and management review determined that changing Dimple Rock to make the river safer for boaters might instead lead to the creation of new hazards and fail to reduce the risks associated with flipping and being swept downstream," department Secretary Michael DiBerardinis said in a statement.

In the last 30 years, there have been 21 deaths on the Lower Yough. About half of the 18 deaths directly connected to boating occurred at Dimple Rock Rapid or nearby Swimmers Rapid, the conservation department said.

The tank-sized rock is undercut below the river's surface by a cavernous opening that a former park official said is "almost the size of a minivan."

Some of those who drowned became trapped in the cavern beneath the rock.

Fayette County Coroner Phillip Reilly has held inquests into the deaths at Dimple Rock, looking for ways to improve safety. Three years ago, he even put a call out for professional engineers to volunteer their services in devising a plan.

Reilly said yesterday that he knew of the conservation department's elaborate study but was unaware of the decision until he received a call from a reporter; however, he already had a meeting scheduled this morning with John Hallas, superintendent of Ohiopyle State Park.

Reilly declined to comment about the state's decision until he learns more details from Hallas, but he said park officials have a good track record trying to keep a dangerous sport as safe as possible.

"The park people there are very sensitive to dealing with the families and their tragedies," Reilly said. "They're continually trying to reduce risk by all means feasible so that it can be a fun thing and challenging and adventurous."

Conservation department officials said a public review of Dimple Rock began a year after three people -- including Stewart Hill -- drowned there in 2000.

The review included comments from the whitewater-boating community, the public and engineers. Although the group recommended no changes, the department decided to commission the engineering study.

Maguire Group Inc., of Pittsburgh, looked at several options, including filling in under the rock; creating a collar around the rock; removing it; or building a dam downstream. The firm built a scale model to determine what effect each of those options would have on water flow and determined each could pose more risks.

Department officials said many steps have been taken to improve safety, including enhancing boater education and warning signs. Portage opportunities also have been added, in which rafters can walk their boats around Dimple Rock.

Many of those changes were recommended by a coroner's jury seated by Reilly after the deaths in 2000.

Christina Novak, a spokeswoman for the department, said officials are looking into making changes in agreements between the conservation department and rafting concessionaires at Ohiopyle. Those agreements, negotiated every 10 years, are set to expire in about two years.

Novak said the department might want to limit the number of people on each guided trip or endorse having a guide in a nearby boat for novice rafters.

Officials from Ohiopyle's four rafting concessionaires either declined to comment on the state decision or did not return phone calls yesterday.

Sandra Hill, who lost her husband of 43 years, said she believes the rock is the root of the problem.

"There's been several deaths there, and it seems to me they know there's a danger, and I think they would want to rid themselves of it," Hill said. "What something like this does to families you just can't imagine -- and it doesn't have to be."