MANCHESTER – Municipal and county law enforcement have been working very hard to keep trespassers out of the Heritage Minerals property but it’s a difficult task. They say educating the public about the danger is important in preventing more tragedies.
Police Chief Antonio Ellis has spoken during Township Council meetings about the property which over the years has been the site of several drownings. The department has repeatedly reminded the public that the 7,000-acre property known as the “ASARCO” tract is private property, closed for recreational or any other use.
The land used to belong to the American Smelting and Refining Company, and was later operated by Heritage Minerals until mining operations ceased in the early 1980s.
The Manchester Times joined Township Police in touring the land recently and witnessed efforts to keep the public off the property.
Trespassers are subject to substantial fines and penalties up to and including incarceration for being on the property. Drones have also been employed by police to monitor the situation.
In July, 18-year-old Perth Amboy resident Victor Arias-Peralta unlawfully visited the site and attempted to swim in the lake with other individuals.
Lt. Christopher Cerullo explained that the former mining area is full of pitfalls and deep man-made lakes. (Photo by Bob Vosseller)
He and a friend were attempting to cross Crystal Lake when Arias-Peralta appeared to suffer from severe fatigue and went into distress approximately 20 yards from the shoreline. Friends went to his aid but he had submerged underwater and disappeared.
In June, Howell resident Edwin Toro-Mejia, 33, also drowned while swimming in Crystal Lake after he and family members trespassed on the property to swim. He and a family member were attempting to swim across the lake when Toro-Mejia suffered a muscle cramp in his leg about 30 yards from shore and he disappeared underwater.
Chief Ellis and other police representatives have warned the public that the lake’s water can be “very unpredictable and dangerously unstable” as it had been used for mining and there are deep drop offs.
“Those entering the water will quickly realize that after taking a few steps in the soft, unstable sand that the shoreline ‘shelf’ quickly drops off,” the chief said.
Heritage Minerals is privately owned and marked with numerous “No Trespassing” signs but too many individuals have been ignoring those signs to “party” according to Chief Ellis.
Numerous signs note that the Heritage Minerals property is private property and that trespassers should stay out and that violators will be prosecuted. (Photo by Bob Vosseller)
Lt. Christopher Cerullo said, “People don’t realize why the lake is as dangerous as it is because it isn’t really a lake. We try to educate as many people as we can when we are out there and on social media that it was from mining in the 1980s and created these pockets of huge bodies of water that appear to look like lakes.”
“There is no stable bottom like a lake or no stable shoreline. That is the problem. If you walking on a beach or a real lake you know you are going deeper, deeper, deeper but here you can walk out three feet and it’s like a cliff that you can fall right down. Some people have said it is 90 feet. We know it is definitely 30 feet in some areas,” Lt. Cerullo added.
Noting the recent losses of life he said, “they are all tough for us and I was there for the last one and was there for the notification of the family. It really is the worst thing that we have to do. They are out there and we have 10 seconds to reach them. It is so hard for us here because we can’t get out there in time.”
The officer explained that when someone calls 911, they don’t know exactly where they are so they can’t guide officers properly. “It takes us time to get out there and locate exactly where they are. They don’t know where they are. (We ask) which body of water are you at? Is it bigger or smaller? We know of a couple of landmarks that we can use to try and find them.”
Lt. Charles Brooks drove out with this reporter to the bumpy terrain of Crystal Lake. It is hard for rescuers to traverse the ditch-like holes and constant number of sand bumps that prevent any vehicle from driving at a greater rate of speed in an emergency.
He noted signs put out by an enterprising towing service featuring their phone number in the case of any type of vehicle being stuck in the sand.
During Jersey Shore Online’s tour with police, two trespassers were seen sitting at Crystal Lake, which looks serene but has claimed a number of people over the years. (Photo by Bob Vosseller)
Two women were also sitting on the beach that day with their feet in the water. They appeared to live locally and Lt. Brooks told them they were trespassing and needed to leave, which they did.
The women got a pass from a $250 fine due to a civilian being present with the officer. Also noted along the way were sneakers and debris left over from a party. Some bags of trash were seen hanging from a tree.
“Where the sand ends – around 30 feet out – it goes from knee deep to 40-50 feet deep,” Brooks said. He noted that the debris spotted that day, “is actually clean from what it normally is as the property owner has stepped up the game a bit. They have everything properly posted and they do what they can. It is hard to find a solution.”
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