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With the recent release of the latest reboot of the Amityville Horror franchise, we thought it’d be interesting to revisit this case study from a few years back. Client Need: A documentary filmmaker was producing a three part series exploring the real-life case history of the 1974 homicide case which inspired the Amityville Horror franchise. Entitled Shattered Hopes, the series examined some never fully answered questions in the murder investigation. After extensive research of police files, the filmmaker suspected a … Continue reading “Case Study 19: Amityville Handgun”

Question: What does the French Algerian War, Cleopatra’s Palace and Bomb-hunting ROV’s have in common? Answer: They are all part of Aqua Survey’s newest Lunch and Learn. Our mixed-media, informal presentations inform and entertain (after all, who said learning has to be painful). Travel around the world with us over lunch (or dinner). Topics include: -Sediment Coring -Bathymetric and Side Scan Sonar Surveys -On-Water Geophysical Surveying -Environmental Toxicology Tests/Studies -Unexploded Ordnance (Bombs) Surveys -Geophysical-Based Treasure Hunting -Globe Trotting Adventures -And … Continue reading “Aqua Survey Lunch and Learn Tour – Back with a New Twist”

Client Needs: An engineering firm was in the process of refurbishing a relatively small ferryboat terminal in the Northeast.  In this process, an intact, massive (and potentially explosive) Rodman cannonball was unearthed by a backhoe.  To provide worker safety, the work zone had to be surveyed for other unexploded ordnance (UXO). Services Provided: Aqua Survey utilized their customized military-grade electromagnetic induction (EMI) metal detection electronics (marine and terrestrial platforms) to locate ferrous and non-ferrous objects within the work zone.  None … Continue reading “CASE STUDY #38: UXO Unearthed During Construction”

Client Needs: A client south of the Mason-Dixon Line needs to pinpoint a 50 mile pipeline in XY&Z dimensions.  It’s a 16 inch, ferrous pipe believed to be buried under about 3 feet of sand.  The water depth is 3-9 feet. ASI’s Solution: Aqua Survey would trailer a shallow draft survey vessel to a boat launch near the survey area. Using Hypack software on our Panasonic Toughbook for track and control, a vessel-mounted RTK-DGPS system for positioning, we would tow … Continue reading “CASE STUDY #37: 50 Mile Pipeline”

Whenever we deploy our inflatable Rossfelder barge, it’s amazing to think that Jacques Cousteau’s son, Phillipe, used to go bombing around the South Pacific with it tucked away in Cousteau’s seaplane, the Flying Calypso. When I watch our field techs using one of Andre Rossfelder’s vibracore units, I think about some of the James Bond-like stories Andre told me about his youth, including his attempts to assassinate Charles De Gaulle. Andre was a fascinating man. If you have a few … Continue reading “Jacques Cousteau and the Assassin”

It’s been a couple of years since Andre Rossfelder passed.  Before he died, he shared with me incredible stories of his past life.  I had known Andre because of the sediment vibracoring systems he had invented and we found so practical to use.  Although Andre died recently many governments and individuals wanted him dead long before then. Now if you don’t have a few minutes to read about Rossfelder’s many brushes with death and his amazing accomplishments, that’s ok.  But … Continue reading “Vibracore Assassin: the Real Day of the Jackal”

Prepared to die: Andre Rossfelder played a key role defending his homeland of French Algeria during WWII’s Operation Torch. Seventeen, tied to a post, firing squad ready, he was prepared to die for his country, but the fascists never fired.  Andre Rossfelder had dodged what seemed his inevitable demise. A life defining moment for many, for Andre it was just another scrape with death. Question: What does a device considered to be the most effective technology to collect sediment cores … Continue reading “Master Inventor and Man of International Intrigue”

To hundreds of coal power-plant facilities across the United States, 4/17/18 is D-Day. The EPA published its final rules (April 17, 2015) governing the disposal of coal combustion residuals produced by electric utilities. Where these impoundments are no longer in use, the rules provide a somewhat less strict set of requirements. In order to take advantage of the special rules applicable to inactive Coal Combustion Residuals surface impoundments, the final closure must be completed by April 17, 2018. There are … Continue reading “What does April 17, 2018, mean to you?”

How did tobacco leaves and tobacco beetles, both New World species, end up in the body cavity of the mummy of Ramses II, a man that lived in Egypt and died in the year 1213 B.C.? Many of you will remember Dominique Gorlitz’s 2007 Abora III expedition, in which he attempted to sail a prehistoric-style reed vessel across the Atlantic from New York to Spain. Aqua Survey enjoyed the opportunity of supporting the expedition as its sailors trained here in … Continue reading “Traces of Nicotine, Cannabis and Coca Plant found in Egyptian Mummies”