Local Nonprofit Fishes for Cars in Merrimack River

Mike Nalen uses a high pressure hose to remove mud from this vehicle to make it lighter. The vehicle was stolen in 1997 and was discovered in the Merrimack River. Volunteers removed over 50 cars along the river. Mark Lorenz/The Boston Globe

By Julie Xie

October 16, 2014

1 minute to read

Look at the bottom of the Merrimack River, and you’ll be reminded that Massachusetts once led the nation in car theft.

A local nonprofit Clean River Project is spending a lot of time at the bottom of that river, scouring for cars and pulling them out, The Boston Globe reports. The Merrimack River is a direct source of drinking water for about 400,000 people, and the group is hoping to make a statement about larger pollution problems.

As of this week, the Clean River Project and its volunteers have pulled about 50 cars from the water in its seven years of work. Many cars are too damaged to fish out.

The process to excavate a car is not easy. After divers have identified them, crews then tie a buoy to the car, blast them with water jets to elevate them from the bottom of the river. A policeman watches over to run vehicle identification numbers through the database. And to see if there are dead bodies inside.

Read the full story here.