Coast Guard retrieves batteries from Potomac River

BALTIMORE - Chief Petty Officer Jeff Mead and Petty Officer 1st Class Robert Foucha, both divers with Regional Dive Locker East based in Portsmouth, Va., prepare to dive into the Potomac River near Hallowing Point Light to retrieve batteries that had previously fallen into the water from the aid to navigation, Sept. 8, 2010. The dive team was able to recover four batteries from the river, which will be returned to the batteries' vendor, so it can be recycled. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Brandyn Hill.

BALTIMORE - Chief Petty Officer Jeff Mead, a diver with Regional Dive Locker East based in Portsmouth, Va., enters the Potomac River near Hallowing Point Light to retrieve batteries that had previously fallen into the water from the aid to navigation, Sept. 8, 2010. This was the first time the dive team had worked with the Aids to Navigation Team Potomac for battery retrieval operations. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Brandyn Hill.

BALTIMORE - Members of Regional Dive Locker East, based in Portsmouth, Va., recovered four batteries, Sept. 8, 2010, which had fallen from Hallowing Point Light in the Potomac River over the years. The batteries will be returned to its vendor so it can be recycled. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Brandyn Hill.

BALTIMORE - Petty Officer 1st Class Jason Bjornberg, a diver from Regional Dive Locker East based in Portsmouth, Va., goes through his diver and supervisor checklist prior to getting underway in the Potomac River near Piscataway Park, Md., Sept. 8, 2010. By going through his checklist, Bjornberg ensures that he has all the necessary safety equipment and dive gear that will be needed to retrieve batteries that have fallen from an aid to navigation into the Potomac River. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Brandyn Hill.

BALTIMORE - Coast Guard Regional Dive Locker East based in Portsmouth, Va., along with assistance from Coast Guard Aids to Navigation Team Potomac based in St. Inigoes, Md., recovered batteries near Hallowing Point Light in the Potomac River, Wednesday, that had previously fallen into the water due to icing conditions over the years.

The batteries will later be returned to their vendors so that they can be recycled.

"We're trying to be good stewards in keeping the Potomac River clean," said Petty Officer 1st Class Jeffrey Smith, the officer in charge of ANT Potomac. "We recovered four batteries, which accounts for all batteries knocked into the water from this aid over the past three years."

Regional Dive Locker East will be working with Coast Guard ANTs through the next two days in an attempt to recover more batteries from the Potomac and Patuxent Rivers.

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