Is price tag for carrier wharf worth it?
Posted: Dec 03, 2009 2:54 PM
Updated: Dec 03, 2009 6:53 PM
by Heather Hauswirth
GUAM - In the name of national security, the environment will likely take a back seat if JGPO green lights its plans to construct a pier, called a berthing, for a nuclear transient aircraft carrier in either Apra harbor or the ship repair facility located on Big Navy.
You've heard it time and time again, Guam is the tip of the spear. The draft EIS revealed by the Joint Guam Program Office just two weeks ago includes the hypothetical blueprint for the way millions of dollars in construction projects could be spent on land and on sea. The ranking Naval Officer for naval facilities, captain Scott Galbreaith says the navy would like a greater air craft carrier presence on U.S. soil.
"It's a very potable and potent striking force and engagement force for the U.S. Being out here – forward deployed in the Western Pacific where the aircraft carriers often operate. This transient pier would give them flexibility in having a place to come and do maintenance and a little bit more training."
What is to become of the habitat with increased sedimentation, and permanent damage to the coral reefs?
Shawn Wusstig co–leads the Guam sea turtle recovery program for the Department of Agriculture.
According to Wusstig, "Here on Guam one of the greatest threats we have to sea turtles both hawksbill and green is habitat loss. What was once suitable for nesting may no longer be suitable and that would also depend on what type of best management practices that are in place that will keep that shore in tact."
Yet Captain Galbreaith says the threats from the neighboring Philippine sea, the People's Republic of China, and North Korea all make it necessary for the U.S. to establish an aircraft carrier pier in the Pacific.
"It is a floating air station really and it carries about 70 aircraft many of them capable of performing strike missions, refueling airborne, early warning and helicopter asw and other multi–mission capabilities," Galbreaith elaborates.
The Guam Shipyard and Polaris Point are the two proposed locations for an aircraft carrier pier. This would provide the Navy with a third location for an aircraft carrier pier in addition to the ones that exist in Hawaii and Japan.
Building this wharf requires
• up to 1,325 ft in length
• deck height of + 12 ft
• pier strength: 800 lbs per sq. Ft.
• mobile crane load: 2,140 ton
"The nuclear carriers are deeper than Kitty Hawk so in the past when we brought in nuclear carriers they had gone to our kilo wharf out by Orote Point, but that is really a wharf meant for ammunition movement so whenever we brought a carrier in that meant we couldn't do our job of ammunition movement so we want a dedicated wharf for the carrier," Galbreaith explains.
although not yet factored into the military budget for this next fiscal year, Captain Galbreaith says it is likely to be included in Fiscal Year 2012 at which time it will be up to Congress to approve or amend this project.
Carrier berthing carries huge costs
Showing posts with label Sea Turtles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sea Turtles. Show all posts
Friday, December 04, 2009
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Sea turtles in peril
Sea turtles in peril
Friday, 27 November 2009 04:04 by Jennifer Naylor Gesick | Variety News Staff
THE Navy is still doing a marine resources biological assessment to address the potential affects of the proposed creation of a new wharf at Polaris Point to house an aircraft carrier on threatened and endangered species, according to the draft environmental impact statement.
There are three special status species associated with Apra Harbor. The green sea turtle is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, the Hawksbill sea turtle listed as endangered and the Spinner dolphin which is protected under the Endangered Marine Mammal Protection Act.
The Navy expects the potential impacts to sea turtles to be "temporary disruption of normal behavior patterns (swimming, resting or foraging behaviors at Sasa Bay and Big Blue Reef)," states the study.
The temporary activities include dredging for the wharf and turning basin anticipated to last four to 78 months. The entire dredging process is expected to last eight to 18 months, but the Navy does not anticipate work to widen and deepen the existing channels to affect sea turtles.
Pile-driving and wharf construction is expected to last from six to 18 months with a total of 3.5 year duration to be estimated for all in-water construction activities. The draft study does expect the sea turtle nesting activities to be impacted by the lights from the barges used for dredging activities.
The work is expected to go on 24 hours per day for up to 18 months. Sea Turtles have been observed nesting during all months of the year on Guam with peak activity from April to July. Dangkolo, Dikiki and Kilo Wharf are the most active locations. "In general sea turtles nest and hatch at night.
They use natural light cues to orient toward the ocean. However, bright lights from the dredging platforms may confuse nesting turtles and hatchlings and result in them orienting away from the ocean," says the statement. The Navy promises that the final impact study will contain a revised sea turtle impact analysis based on ongoing and recent past studies of potential noise exposures to sea turtles and other marine species from pile driving actions.
Friday, 27 November 2009 04:04 by Jennifer Naylor Gesick | Variety News Staff
THE Navy is still doing a marine resources biological assessment to address the potential affects of the proposed creation of a new wharf at Polaris Point to house an aircraft carrier on threatened and endangered species, according to the draft environmental impact statement.
There are three special status species associated with Apra Harbor. The green sea turtle is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, the Hawksbill sea turtle listed as endangered and the Spinner dolphin which is protected under the Endangered Marine Mammal Protection Act.
The Navy expects the potential impacts to sea turtles to be "temporary disruption of normal behavior patterns (swimming, resting or foraging behaviors at Sasa Bay and Big Blue Reef)," states the study.
The temporary activities include dredging for the wharf and turning basin anticipated to last four to 78 months. The entire dredging process is expected to last eight to 18 months, but the Navy does not anticipate work to widen and deepen the existing channels to affect sea turtles.
Pile-driving and wharf construction is expected to last from six to 18 months with a total of 3.5 year duration to be estimated for all in-water construction activities. The draft study does expect the sea turtle nesting activities to be impacted by the lights from the barges used for dredging activities.
The work is expected to go on 24 hours per day for up to 18 months. Sea Turtles have been observed nesting during all months of the year on Guam with peak activity from April to July. Dangkolo, Dikiki and Kilo Wharf are the most active locations. "In general sea turtles nest and hatch at night.
They use natural light cues to orient toward the ocean. However, bright lights from the dredging platforms may confuse nesting turtles and hatchlings and result in them orienting away from the ocean," says the statement. The Navy promises that the final impact study will contain a revised sea turtle impact analysis based on ongoing and recent past studies of potential noise exposures to sea turtles and other marine species from pile driving actions.
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