Posted on 03/08/2016 5:29:21 AM PST by JoeProBono
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla., - A scuba diver in Florida is suing a utility company after he was sucked into a quarter-mile-long pipe that took him inside a nuclear power plant.
Christopher Le Cun said he was scuba diving off the coast of Hutchinson Island with friend Robert Blake last summer when the pair went down to investigate three large shadows underneath a yellow buoy.
"I swam right up to this big structure and it looks like a building underwater. I felt a little bit of current. All of a sudden it got a little quicker and I said, 'this ain't right, this ain't right,'" Le Cun told WPTV.
Blake said Le Cun got "sucked in like a wet noodle."
Blake returned to the surface to get help from the duo's friends and family on a boat, while Le Cun was sucked down one of three 16-foot-wide intake pipes.
The diver said he was in the tube for about five minutes before he saw the light of the surface he would soon reach.
"All of a sudden it looks like a match, out in the distance, just the littlest bit of what you've ever seen. When it gets a little bigger, then a little bigger. Then all of a sudden just, poof, daylight. Fish everywhere, crystal-clear water the sun is shining and I'm like, 'is this heaven?'" Le Cun said.
Le Cun said he shouted for help and was assisted by a confused employee who asked how he got into the plant.
Blake and Le Cun said they did not see any warnings anywhere in the area, but an FPL spokesman said there is writing on the buoy reading, "stay back 100 feet."
Le Cun is now suing plant operator Florida Power and Light, alleging negligence for inadequate safety precautions.
"Nothing is more important safety at our St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plants, which is a reason that we have a protective over the intake piping. The diver intentionally swam into one of the intake pipes after bypassing a piece of equipment to minimize the entry of objects," FPL said in a statement.
Le Cun is not the first scuba diver to take a wild ride through the plant's intake pipes -- William Lamm had a similar experience in June 1989.
"I thought I was dead," the then-45-year-old told UPI in a 1989 interview. "It was darker than any dark I have ever seen. I tumbled and bounced all over the sides of the pipe."
Sounds like the plant might have security issues.
If true, this case should never make it to a courtroom.
But then again, lawyers gotta eat, too. Just Call Saul!
Manatees have very little body fat. They hang near power plant outflow even when it’s a little cool.
OJ got away with it as well. But OJ also killed an innocent third party.
Depends on how big the writing was. If you had to get within 20 feet to read it....
Yeah, like the gravel trucks around here with signs on the back of the truck that warn you to stay back 150 feet, but you can't read the sign until you're up on the back of the truck. Since I know it's a gravel truck from its design, I avoid riding up behind them anyway, it's just funny to see that little tiny sign on the back that you can't read until you're close enough to lose a windshield.
The diver intentionally swam into one of the intake pipes after bypassing a piece of equipment to minimize the entry of objects," FPL said in a statement
I wouldn't think FPL would have a big open-ended pipe, sucking all kinds of trash/debris into the plant's cooling system?
I’ll bet he dropped some mud into his wetsuit and does not ever want to wear it again.
Idiot and now wants dollars to prove he was an idiot. Next he will sue his mother because she never taught him the stove is hot.
There ain’t no cure for stupid which is why you are right they need a grate. There has always been on over the Turkey Point Power Plant near Miami. They use screens because the shrimp are attracted to the warmth. a lot of people used to shrimp near the plant.
siphon. provided lots of entertainment as a kid.................
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siphon
How close to the buoy do you have to be to be able to read the writing that says "stay back 100 feet"? How big is that dang buoy, if it has writing that says "stay back 100 feet" in print large enough to be visible and legible from 100 feet away?
Hey...I guess I’m a manatee too! I just LOOK fat! hahaha
Thanks for the info.
If you’re a Dumb F*ck, don’t get into dangerous sports.
Their body shape is due to large lungs.
Mine is due to that too. I am a trained vocalist! hahaha
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!
Port St. Lucie. Definitely something in the water there.
The guy had it coming for doing this. He ignored a buoy with a warning on it, worked his around the grate to stop things from going in, and intentionally climbed into the pipe. And all of this is in a written statement. How people still win these court cases is beyond me.
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