park was fined only once. It was also unique in that department in that all other amusement parks were fined for first offenses—except Action Park. It asked if some sort of special relationship existed between GAR and the state. A reporter for Vernon's local weekly said in Class Action Park that, as Sussex County's largest employer, Action Park received special treatment from the township government. Some of the state's regulations failed to adequately address the situation. After the 1987 drowning, the Tidal Wave Pool reportedly was considered a pool by the state, not a ride. Under state regulations at the time, that meant that the company merely had to keep the water clean and make sure that certified lifeguards were on duty. Fatalities Six people are known to have died directly or indirectly from rides at Action Park: July 8, 1980: 19-year-old George Larsson, Jr. was riding the Alpine Slide when his car jumped the track and his head struck a rock. He was rushed to the hospital and died on July 16. Gene Mulvihill lied to reporters that Larsson was an employee because a customer's death would have to be reported to the state. Larsson worked at a neighboring park as a ski lift operator the prior season; he never worked at Action Park. July 24, 1982: George Lopez, a 15-year-old boy, drowned in the Tidal Wave Pool. August 1, 1982: Jeffrey Nathan, a 27-year-old man from Fair Lawn, New Jersey, got out of his tipped kayak on the Kayak Experience, to right it. While doing so, he stepped on a grate that was either in contact with, or came too close to a section of live wiring for the underwater fans that somehow became exposed, and he suffered a severe electric shock, which sent him into cardiac arrest. Two of Nathan's relatives nearby him when the accident occurred were also injured. Nathan was taken to a hospital in nearby Warwick, New York, where he died later of the shock-induced cardiac arrest. The park at first disputed that the electric current caused his death, saying no burns were found on his body, but the coroner responded that burns generally do not occur in a water-based electrocution. The ride was drained and closed for the investigation. Accounts differed as to the extent of the exposed wiring; the park said it was "just a nick", while others argued it was closer