Lake weed removal company fined over $730K after employee drowns while SCUBA diving

The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry announced that it has issued a $730,369 fine to a lake weed removal company after one of its employees drowned in May.

The department said the employee of Your Lake Aquatic Plant Management, LLC, drowned while using SCUBA equipment to remove weeds from a lake. DLI found that the company was in violation of commercial diving standards.

The violations included:

• Employees didn’t have the experience or training necessary to perform work safely.
• Employees weren’t trained in CPR or first aid
• An employee was not designated to be in charge of all aspects of the diving operation.
• A safe-practices manual hadn’t been developed or maintained.
• A stand-by diver wasn’t available while the diving operations took place.

Your Lake Aquatic Plant Management, LLC filed a Notice of Contest to appeal the citations, DLI said.

DLI also noted that this was the second case of a Minnesota worker drowning while using SCUBA equipment to perform aquatic weed removal in a lake since 2022.