STOCKTON, Calif. — An underwater junkyard of sorts lies beneath the San Joaquin River in Stockton. Dozens of vehicles have been dumped or accidentally driven into the river, and the sheriff’s office says they don’t have the resources to get them out.
The San Joaquin River is one of the hardest working rivers in California, generating hydropower for millions of homes and providing drinking water for even more. It’s a 330-mile highway for endangered fish like trout and salmon starting in the Sierra and ending in the San Francisco Bay, but the middle of it takes an unfortunate turn.
“We get probably like three to four cars in the water every month, but this year it's been significantly more. I would probably say about double,” said Deputy John Canepa with the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office Boating Unit.
Dozens of abandoned cars are cluttering the bottom of the San Joaquin River along Eight Mile Road in Stockton.
Canepa says the cars are likely stolen and dumped, or someone missed a turn and accidentally hit the water. He adds some of the cars could even belong to a missing person, like Jacob VanZant who disappeared in February.
The 24-year-old was last seen at a Lodi restaurant getting takeout. A ping from his phone led the family to believe he was somewhere near the river along Eight Mile Road.
After two months of searching, a volunteer dive team came in and found his remains inside his car – 15 feet below the surface of the water.
“When the divers came, we were shocked to find out there were 27 other vehicles down there,” his mother told ABC10.
There were 27 cars in just that one section of the massive river.
“Taking cars out is important for us at the sheriff’s office because it could be related to a stolen vehicle or missing person, and it would be awesome to bring closures to those families,” said Canepa.
Unfortunately, it’s not that simple.
“We've been working with the Stanislaus County dive team [and] other tow companies to get the vessels out because, unfortunately, we don't have a dive team,” said Canepa.
They also rely on the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office for their underwater camera to check for remains in a submerged vehicle. There are also environmental concerns with cars leaking fluids into the river.
“California's waterways are a professional priority for me and everywhere else, so I'm very interested in this particular problem, especially as it relates to oil and hazardous substances,” said Harry Allen with the EPA.
Allen says he’s aware of about 50 vessels in the Delta both the state and federal governments are trying to remove.
“Vehicles go off the Delta… levees and side roads probably pretty regularly and they need to be responded to,” said Allen.
Allen says they can destroy habitats and are a danger to people using the water for recreation. UC Davis environmental toxicologist Ronald Tjeerdema agrees.
“They can cause serious consequences for fish and other critters,” he said. “If the concentrations are high enough, they can actually then kill them as well.”
For now, the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office must wait on other agencies and funding to tackle the problem.
As for the family of Jacob VanZant, they’re left grieving a young life ended too soon. Investigators still aren’t sure how his car ended up in the river.
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