01.24.05

Cantwell Promotes Tsunami Safety for Washington

Bipartisan legislation would improve tsunami warning system for the Pacific, assess risk for 250,000 more Washingtonians

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sen. Maria Cantwell today joined with other members of the Senate Commerce Committee to introduce the "Tsunami Preparedness Act." The bipartisan legislation will improve the system of tsunami monitoring buoys off the coast of Washington and across the globe. The bill will also provide for tsunami risk assessments in the Puget Sound and Washington's coastal communities.

"The shock of what happened in the Indian Ocean caused all of us to start asking tough questions about what could happen in the state of Washington," said Cantwell, a Senate Commerce Committee member. "This bill is going to improve the reliability of our existing tsunami warning system, and make sure we have our arms around the magnitude of the risk, when seconds can save lives."

Specifically, the Tsunami Preparedness Act will require the immediate repair of malfunctioning tsunami detection and warning buoys (also known as tsunameters). Earlier this month, it was reported that three of the six existing Pacific Coast tsunameters are broken--including the buoy off the coast of Washington. The bill will also expand the current network of buoys to cover the entire Pacific Ocean, as well as at-risk areas in the Atlantic and Caribbean.

Cantwell also added to the legislation provisions that will ensure comprehensive vulnerability assessments and inundation mapping for inland bodies of water, including the Puget Sound and Strait of Juan de Fuca. Although mapping has been completed for the 45,000 Washingtonians who live within a mile of the coastline, they have yet been completed for at-risk areas near inland bodies of water, which are home to another 250,000 state residents.

The bill also establishes a community-based tsunami hazard mitigation program to improve tsunami preparedness plans.

During a January 23, 2004 visit to Seattle 's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL), Cantwell described provisions of the bill designed to improve the tsunami safety of Washington state residents. PMEL provides research support to all aspects of the tsunami program in the U.S. and is home to many of the world's leading tsunami researchers. The lab will have a leading role in developing technology for the new global tsunami warning system.

Led by Chairman Ted Stevens (R-AK) and Ranking Member Daniel Inouye (D-HI), the Senate Commerce Committee is expected to hold hearings on the Tsunami Preparedness Act next month. The legislation was officially introduced in the Senate on Monday. Alaska , Hawaii and Washington are all key parts of the Pacific Tsunami Warning System.

The Tsunami Preparedness Act

On January 24, 2004 Senator Cantwell introduced--along with Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Stevens (R-AK) and Ranking Member Inouye (D-HI)--the Tsunami Preparedness Act. This legislation will direct the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to upgrade the existing Pacific tsunami detection and warning system, as well as expand it to any area in the Atlantic and Caribbean that NOAA determines is at-risk for a tsunami event. The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing on the bill during the first week in February. The bill will make significant improvements in the tsunami monitoring and detection system off the coast of Washington, including:

The immediate repair of malfunctioning tsunami buoys. Just after the tragic Indian Ocean tsunami, it was discovered that three of the six existing Pacific Coast detection and warning buoys (also known as tsunameters) were not functioning or only transmitting data intermittently--including the buoy off the coast of Washington. The legislation requires NOAA to immediately fix these deep ocean detection buoys, and to notify Congress whenever a malfunction occurs. Comprehensive mapping of at-risk areas, such as the Puget Sound. While it's commonly known that almost 45,000 Washingtonians live less than a mile from the Pacific Coast, communities located near inland bodies of water can also be at substantial risk, depending on factors such as proximity to fault lines. At Sen. Cantwell's request, the bill's tsunami mapping and community outreach program was expanded to cover vulnerable inland bodies of water such as the Puget Sound and Strait of Juan de Fuca . NOAA estimates that more than 250,000 additional Washingtonians live in areas at risk from tsunami inundation—from Olympia and Seattle, to Everett and Bellingham. But to date, NOAA has not had the resources to complete inundation mapping for almost 50 of these at-risk communities in Washington. These areas will now be included in the bill's new community-based tsunami hazard mitigation program, which will improve inundation mapping, outreach and education, and integrated rescue and recovery guidelines. An expanded network of buoys and new tsunami warning centers. The bill will expand the current network of six tsunami detection and warning buoys to cover the entire Pacific Ocean, as well as at-risk areas in the Atlantic and Caribbean. It will also provide additional resources to our nation's two existing tsunami warning centers in Hawaii and Alaska. Relying on technology developed at Seattle's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL), these centers will monitor seismological, deep ocean and tidal data, as well as assess earthquakes that may have potential to generate tsunamis. These centers will also be responsible for issuing warning bulletins. An investment in tsunami research and technology. Seattle 's PMEL will play a leading role in the bill's research program, which will focus on development of the next generation of tsunami prediction, detection, communication and mitigation technology. Already, PMEL is at work on the "next generation" of warning and detection buoys. A stable federal funding source. The bill authorizes $35 million annually through fiscal year 2012 to carry out these tsunami-related initiatives.

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