US military raised water level of river in Ohio for US V-P Vance’s family boating trip
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Mr J.D. Vance had not been aware of a request made to alter the water flow into the Little Miami River on Aug 2, said a spokeswoman for the US Vice-President.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Lisa Friedman, Eileen Sullivan
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WASHINGTON – Military engineers raised the levels of a river in Ohio so the Secret Service could provide security to US Vice-President J.D. Vance during a family boating trip, agency officials said on Aug 7.
Ms Taylor Van Kirk, a spokeswoman for Mr Vance, said the Vice-President had not been aware the request had been made to alter the water flow into the Little Miami River on Aug 2.
The Vances took the boat excursion on the Vice-President’s 41st birthday.
“The Secret Service often employs protective measures without the knowledge of the Vice-President or his staff, as was the case last weekend,” Mr Van Kirk said.
Ohio Democrats and others criticised the trip after The Guardian reported that river levels were raised for it.
Mr Anthony Guglielmi, a Secret Service spokesman, said that for security reasons, the agency asked the US Army Corps of Engineers to temporarily increase water flow from Caesar Creek Lake, which is connected to the river.
The boats used by the Secret Service for security or an emergency evacuation are usually motorised and need deeper waters to operate, he said. Smaller boats like the ones the Vances were using, such as kayaks and canoes, can operate in shallower waters.
Mr Guglielmi also said that the Secret Service and local public safety officials conducted a scouting mission before the excursion.
During that time, one of the local public safety boats ran aground, an indication that the water level was too low for that vessel.
In 1999, as he campaigned for president, then Vice-President Al Gore faced questions after a local utility poured millions of gallons of water into the drought-stricken Connecticut River, to keep Mr Gore from running aground.
Mr Eugene Pawlik, a spokesman for the Army Corps, said changes to water outflows are a “recurring process” throughout the year depending on the weather and other factors.
“The Secret Service request did not fall outside our normal operating parameters,” he said.
Mr Pawlik added that no waivers were needed, and that the outflow change did not have an adverse effect on downstream or upstream water levels. NYTIMES
