Tsunami Warning Center opens new building

PALMER -- The new West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center off Felton Street near Palmer, less than a year old, presents an unobtrusive front against the backdrop of Lazy Mountain and Matanuska Peak. The deep blue roof and wide grass lawns surrounding the building allow it to blend right in with its surroundings. The security system plays a variety of bird and other animal calls as the center's doors are opened and closed.

This communion with nature is more than just an illusion. One of the new center's primary claims to fame is its certification as a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design structure. This certification, granted by the U.S. Green Building Council, designates buildings that employ state-of-the-art strategies for sustainable site development, water conservation, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality. The WCATWC is the first LEED-certified building in Alaska and the first National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration building to achieve this status.

"The LEED process sets in place very challenging design goals that are especially difficult to achieve in Alaska," said Ron Warren, NOAA National Weather Service project manager for the new facility.

The building received an honorable mention in the running for the 2004 White House Closing the Circle Award for Sustainable Design/Green Building.

"Building 'green' provides substantial savings through lower energy, waste and water costs and lower operational and maintenance costs," Acting Director of the National Weather Service's Alaska Region Laura Furgione said in a press release. "Moreover, 'green' buildings tend to create a healthier work environment."

In the ceremony Thursday afternoon, officials from the National Weather Service joined local dignitaries and community members alike to dedicate the new building.

Speakers at the ceremony included Furgione, as well as Brig. Gen. David L. Johnson, National Weather Service director, John Pennington, regional director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and Palmer Deputy Mayor Tony Pippel.

"This is the tsunami warning center of the future," said William Knight, a physical scientist with the center. Knight explained to a group of interested visitors touring the facility how 10 seismic sensors stored in sturdy culverts transmit seismic data to the Palmer center through the use of satellite dishes. The Earlybird warning system contained in the computer banks inside the shelter itself processes data from 140 different stations around the planet and produces graphical representations of earthquakes and tsunami progress.

The equipment is extraordinarily sensitive.

"The guys down the street set off a few blasts last week when they were quarrying," said Knight of a nearby rock removal project, "and we felt it right away."

A map of prominent earthquakes over the last 100 years shows most of the activity concentrated in Alaska, the Aleutians, California and Japan, following the volcanic Ring of Fire along the Pacific Ocean.

As the tsunami warning center for the Alaska, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and California coasts, the WCATWC is responsible for monitoring seismic activities and tracking potential tsunamis that could afflict this area. The center was established in 1967 partially in response to the great 1964 earthquake that created a tsunami powerful enough to rip Alaska Railroad ties out of the ground in Seward. In 1996, the center's area of responsibility was expanded to include all Pacificwide events capable of causing harm to communities on the western coast of North America.

Contact Daniel Spoth at daniel.spoth@frontiersman.com.