News - Local News

POSTED: Wednesday, Aug. 05, 2009

NOAA chooses Oregon, not Bellingham, for marine center

Bellingham will not be the new home of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Marine Operations Center-Pacific, officials announced Tuesday, Aug. 4.

After a lengthy, much-anticipated process, federal officials determined that the Port of Newport, Ore., was the best fit for the facility. It is expected to bring the coastal Oregon community an estimated 175 shore-side employees, researchers and on-board crew members assigned to four vessels and two itinerant vessels, which would be at sea much of the year.

The 20-year lease will take effect in 2011. The center is currently in Seattle, at Lake Union.

The decision was met with both disappointment and harsh criticism from Washington officials at the local and federal level.

U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, chairs the Senate subcommittee that oversees NOAA, and vowed to fight the decision.

She criticized a process in which she said the decision was made by procurement officials at NOAA and did not allow for input from the public or elected officials.

Port of Bellingham interim Director Fred Seeger said his agency was "of course disappointed" in the decision.

"We believe we submitted a fair and reasonable proposal to NOAA," he said. "This door of opportunity has closed apparently, but another will open and we'll seize on the opportunity."

"Wow," said Bellingham Mayor Dan Pike when informed about the decision. "I am very surprised, but I think it probably reflects the clout of Peter DeFazio."

DeFazio is the Democratic Oregon representative who sits as the No. 2 on the U.S. House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

"I think it's a blow for the state of Washington, not just Bellingham," Pike said.

Rear Adm. Jonathan W. Bailey, director of the NOAA Office of Marine and Aviation Operations, said repeatedly to reporters during a conference call that the process was as fair and transparent as possible, and that there was no sway from any federal officials on the issue.

That includes Jane Lubchenco, an internationally known marine ecologist who worked at Oregon State University before being selected by President Obama to head NOAA.

OSU's Hatfield Marine Science Center is located at the Port of Newport and NOAA has a co-located facility there now. Bailey and other NOAA officials said that the center would provide advantages, and said about 90 percent of the procurement research and decision-making had taken place before Lubchenco was confirmed by the Senate.

OSU has another connection to the federal government - first lady Michelle Obama's brother, Craig Robinson, is the university men's basketball coach.

Nearly no detail was available as to why Newport was selected, mainly because the selection is unofficial until Port of Newport commissioners sign the lease agreement with NOAA. Until that time, information on how the selection was made will remain secret, Bailey said.

But there are some points that appear to work in Newport's favor. Aside from having a renowned university research facility already on site, the port there is billed as an "authentic working waterfront," a research vessel already is homeported there and NOAA has a lab in Newport.

Bailey said that considerations of "best value" were taken into account, and that a market analysis of various locations included looking at the area schools, medical facilities and even restaurants. That analysis isn't being made public at this time.

U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Everett, also was disappointed, saying he had "hoped for a different decision."

"Our community, including the port, city, our education partners, marine trades industry and local leaders made a true team effort to bring NOAA to Bellingham," said Larsen, who is also a member of the House transportation committee.

Local officials worked aggressively to entice the relocation of the operations center, noting that the Port of Bellingham has deep-water pier space and vacant waterfront warehouses that easily could be converted to NOAA use. The port's shipping terminal area is already zoned for NOAA use, and city officials have been supportive of the port's campaign to get the operations center.

Port Marine Services Director Dan Stahl told port commission members on Tuesday that the port spent about $266,000 in their bid, not accounting for soft costs for staff time or travel. Commissioners asked for more information on estimated hours spent by staff on the project, too, to highlight the effort put in.

In mid-April, Bellingham City Council members approved an exemption to certain development impact fees if the project served a "broad public purpose." While the exemption language was included for transportation, school and park impact fees, only the transportation fee would apply to a potential NOAA project, officials previously said. Taxpayers would have to foot the bill for the impacts if an exemption was granted.

Meanwhile, locals had heralded the relocation of the facility as a likely jump start to a new vision for the city's waterfront.

Besides the direct jobs, port officials said they believed the NOAA center would help to promote overall redevelopment of 220 acres of mostly idle industrial land in and around the shipping terminal, much of which was formerly home to Georgia-Pacific Corp. pulp and paper mills.

NOAA also was touted as a good fit with plans to bring Western Washington University facilities such as Huxley College of the Environment to the waterfront.

Port interim Director Seeger said he didn't believe NOAA's decision would adversely impact the potential for WWU facilities on the waterfront.

The sentiment was confirmed by Steve Swan, WWU's vice president of university relations.

"We're obviously disappointed because this would have been a big plus for Bellingham and our entire region," he said, "Western remains firmly committed to being on the waterfront. The decision of NOAA in no way changes that."

The idea of getting NOAA vessels here first surfaced in 2003 and gained momentum in 2007, when the port and city announced a joint task force to promote the local bid. They compared that effort to the communitywide push that lured the Alaska Marine Highway System's southern ferry terminal here from Seattle in the 1980s.