updated: July 22nd, 2016 - 5:08 pm.
Updated: Officials say a man’s body was recovered from Harveys Lake Thursday
By Eileen Godin egodin@timesleader.com
Police said the body of a 24-year-old man who was working on a Harveys Lake boathouse at Pole 131, shown above, was recovered from the lake Thursday.
HARVEYS LAKE — Police Chief Charles Musial confirmed a man’s body was recovered from the lake Thursday evening.
The man, who was identified as 24-year-old Dakota Watkins by the Luzerne County Coroner’s Office, had been working on an addition to a boathouse along Lakeside Drive at Pole 131 and was found unresponsive in the water by the homeowner, Musial said.
Musial said police and emergency services were dispatched to the residence at 5:20 p.m. Thursday.
Officials at the coroner’s office said Watkins’ cause of death was drowning complicated by electric shock, and the manner of death was accidental.
An engineer with Barry Isett & Associates, Harvey Lake Borough’s third-party building code service, found the electrical wiring in the new structure was installed incorrectly, which caused the electrical shock Watkins received from a boat lift, Musial said.
Musial would not release the name of the contractor who employed the man.
Friday morning, the police chief was at the boathouse along with representatives from Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Barry Isett & Associates.
“A stop-work order is in place for this property,” he said. “Violations were found at the site. That is all I can say right now.”
As of Friday afternoon, the police investigation was complete and the case being handled by OSHA, Musial said.OSHA Investigating Harveys Lake Drowning
Posted 5:33 pm, July 22, 2016, by Matt Petrillo
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HARVEYS LAKE, PA -- Federal officials are trying to figure out how a man who was working on a boathouse by Harveys Lake was shocked and then drowned.
Luzerne County officials said Dakota Watkins, 24, was working to fix an electrical problem on the boathouse Thursday when he was shocked. He plunged into the lake and drowned.
William Streater has a boathouse near the one Watkins was working on.
"It's just a shame, a young man like that? It's too bad" Streater said.
Emergency crews were called to the lakeside home just after 5 p.m. Thursday. When crews arrived, they found Watkins' body in the lake. Now officials from OSHA are investigating possible work-related violations.
"OSHA was very disturbed by what they found today at the scene," Harveys Lake Police Chief Charles Musial said.
What they found included some electrical equipment--like part of a jet ski lift in the water--still running. Investigators are trying to determine who left it that way.
"Electrical work to the whole structure was not done properly," Musial added.
Harveys Lake police say Watkins had told neighbors to stay away from the area because of a possible electrical problem. He tried fixing it, but it was too late.
"OSHA will go forward with this matter and they do whatever they need to bring justice to this family," said Musial.
At this time, police say there is no more work allowed on that boathouse until new permits are applied for. OSHA says this investigation is in the very early stages and it does not know how long it could take to complete.