Recovering what others leave behind.
Fathom Restoration is Utah's first dedicated underwater vehicle recovery nonprofit — founded by three disabled U.S. military veterans to protect the lakes, rivers, and reservoirs that the state depends on.
To recover lost vehicles, vessels, and debris from Utah's waterways — protecting ecosystems, supporting law enforcement, and restoring the clean water that communities across the state depend on.
Three veterans. One stubborn problem nobody else was solving.
The problem isn't subtle. Thousands of submerged vehicles sit in U.S. lakes and reservoirs. Each one is an active contamination event — leaking engine oil, transmission fluid, antifreeze, gasoline, and battery acid into the water column for decades.
Utah alone has dozens of lakes, rivers, and reservoirs where vehicles sit on the bottom. Some were accidents. Some were insurance fraud. Some have been there since the 1970s. And until now, nobody was positioned to pull them out.
Law enforcement dive teams are funded for rescue and evidence recovery — not long-cycle debris cleanup. Environmental agencies monitor water quality but don't have the equipment to physically extract vehicles. Private salvage exists to profit from insurance claims, not to do pro-bono lake cleanup. The vehicles that needed to come out the most — the ones nobody owned, nobody claimed, and nobody would pay to recover — just stayed underwater.
Three U.S. military veterans with diving and operational experience saw that gap and decided to fill it. We incorporated in Utah, secured a federal EIN, drafted and signed full corporate governance, and filed for 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. Fathom Restoration was founded to take on the work nobody else is willing or positioned to do.
Three commitments that shape every operation.
Conservation
We protect and restore Utah's waterways for future generations. Every recovery will be measured in fluid contained, ecosystems preserved, and watersheds cleaned.
Precision
Every recovery will be executed to professional standards. USCG-certified divers, HazMat-trained surface teams, and zero-spill extraction protocols are the model we're built to deploy.
Accountability
Transparent operations, responsible stewardship, and community trust. Public budgets, published water-quality data, and Form 990 financial reporting.
What you can expect when you work with us.
We bring the discipline and precision of our military and dive training to every operation.
Everything we do serves a larger conservation and environmental restoration mission.
Utah's terrain demands durability. We work in hard environments — lakes, rivers, marshland.
Landowners, agencies, and partners can count on our transparency, discretion, and accountability.
Built on a documented, transparent foundation.
Help us pull the first one out.
We're IRS-recognized, fully governed, and already in the water running volunteer cleanups by hand. Your donation funds the certified dive team, recovery equipment, and HazMat transport we need to start pulling vehicles out for good.