Get NOAA to rethink move to Oregon, Locke urged

Local and federal elected officials on Thursday urged U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to intervene in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) decision to move its research fleet from Seattle to Newport, Ore.

In a letter to Locke, a former Washington governor, the officials said NOAA should reconsider basing the fleet at one of two existing federal facilities in Seattle rather than spending $2.5 million annually for a new site in Oregon.

At a news conference Thursday, U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Seattle, and Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn said the two Seattle locations — NOAA's Western Regional Center at Sand Point on Lake Washington and an industrial site along the Duwamish River — are ideal because they wouldn't cost taxpayers additional money.

NOAA started its search for a new location after a 2006 fire damaged the privately owned Lake Union dock where the four ships had been based.

The agency struck a deal with Newport last year, and the state of Oregon provided a $19.5 million subsidy to construct a new dock and office complex. It broke ground in the beginning of June.

An inspector general's report released at the end of June said NOAA didn't adequately weigh its existing options before choosing the Newport location, leading Locke to order the agency to review its decision.

"They took two days and came back with the same decision," McDermott said. "If you read between the lines, the decision was made when they started looking. They never seriously looked at Seattle."

NOAA spokesman David Hall said the Newport facility is still to open in July 2011.

"Of all the proposals received, the Newport, Ore., site was the lowest cost to the taxpayers and best for NOAA's operations," he wrote in an e-mail. "None of the Inspector General's findings will cause us to reverse course."

Acknowledging the dozen or so NOAA employees at Thursday's news conference, McDermott expressed his concern for the impact the move might have on workers.

"Think about this economy — trying to sell your home in Seattle so you can move to Oregon," he said. "We have to think about what this means not only to the city and what it means to research but also what it means for citizens."

NOAA's 10-vessel Pacific fleet includes four ships based in Seattle and six based in Alaska, Hawaii and California. The ships are used for underwater mapping, oceanography and fisheries studies and are manned and administered by a staff of about 175.

Jill Kimball: 206-464-2136 or jkimball@seattletimes.com