Joyriding SUV Sinks Into Popular, Dangerous Mining Lake In Ocean County

MANCHESTER, NJ — An SUV ended up partially submerged in the lake known as Crystal Lake at ASARCO off Route 70 on Sunday, Manchester police said.

There were no injuries reported in the incident, Manchester Capt. Albert Vega said. It happened when the person driving the white Chevy Tahoe lost control on the soft sand bank of the lake.

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The owner received summonses and had to arrange for the SUV had to be pulled from the lake by a tow truck at the owner's expense, Vega said.

While Sunday's incident ended without injuries, Vega said it is a reminder of the dangers of the lakes at the site, a former mining property that's also known as the Heritage Minerals property.

The site, owned by the Hovnanian Corp., has seen at least eight drownings since mining operations ceased there nearly 40 years ago.

That's in spite of multiple efforts to block entry points, erecting "No Trespassing" signs and high-profile sweeps with tickets, arrests and ATV and UTV seizures.

With summer weather descending on the Garden State this week, Vega said Manchester Township police are working with other law enforcement agencies and Hovnanian to do everything they can to keep people out of the site.

It is an annual frustration, because even as authorities and Hovnanian block off entrances, new ones pop up.

"It's like water," Vega said Monday. "They're going to find a way in."

The water — the cold, crystal clear lake at the center of the site — and the untamed woods that fill the 7,000-acre property are what continue to draw people in year after year, in spite of warnings and in spite of the deaths.

Two years ago, 33-year-old Howell man drowned when he suffered a muscle cramp in his leg about 30 yards from shore while trying to swim across the lake.

A month later, an 18-year-old from Perth Amboy drowned while swimming at the lake.

Others who have drowned include a Cliffside Park man who died in 2023, a Plainfield man who drowned in July 2020, and 17-year-old Manchester student Denasia Davis, who drowned in 2015.

It's not just the drownings, however. Manchester police have been called to multiple ATV crashes at the site over the years, including a crash in December 2020 that killed James Grover, 62, of Howell. His friend, Stephen McGuire of Howell, was sentenced in January to three years in prison in that crash. McGuire, 48, was intoxicated when he crashed a UTV into the lake, with Grover and three kids as passengers. McGuire and the children escaped, but Grover and the UTV did not resurface, authorities said.

The mining operations at the property were first operated by ASARCO (American Smelting and Refining Company) and later operated by Heritage Minerals until mining operations stopped in the early 1980s.

The lakes formed from the old mining sites, filling with mineral-laden water from underground aquifers. Because the water is from the aquifers, it is so cold swimmers tire much faster, authorities have said in the past. The minerals in the water reduce buoyancy, so swimmers don't naturally float.

In addition, the shoreline of the lakes is very unstable because they formed from mining and not naturally. The soft shorelines transition to deep drop-offs of 60 feet or more very quickly. Crystal Lake, which the largest on the site, is estimated to be 300 feet deep.

The property, which fronts on Route 37 and on Route 70, is fenced in, and Manchester police and Hovnanian work to block entrances with concrete blocks and dirt berms and other methods. But police recently found a new entry point and are working to close it up, he said.

"We have a great relationship with Hovnanian," Vega said, adding they are sitting down with the company again in the coming weeks to discuss what more can be done.

He said they also have a great relationship with the Ocean County Sheriff's Office and with New Jersey State Police, who help patrol and conducts sweeps like one in 2022 led to more than 200 tickets being issued and multiple ATVs and UTVs being seized.

"(Seizing ATVs) is alway going to be an option," Vega said. "We are doing everything proactively as much as we can."

Vega said the dangers of the site cannot be overstated, yet the message still doesn't get through, even in spite of the deaths.

"It’s sad but history shows there's at least one or two drownings every couple of years," he said.

Manchester police are hoping people will heed the warnings for a change.