Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

Floor Speech

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By Ms. MURKOWSKI:

S. 566. A bill to provide for the establishment of the National Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring System; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I rise today to reintroduce a bill and talk about an issue that has, unfortunately, become a regular occurrence in Alaska and holds great interest to the Nation and the world. I am talking about volcano monitoring. While erupting volcanoes are a early constant part of our lives in Alaska, it usually takes a worldwide event such the eruption last year of a volcano in Iceland, which disrupted air traffic in Europe and around the world, to capture the public's attention.

Two years ago it was the eruption of Mount Redoubt, which cancelled hundreds of flights in Alaska that motivated me to introduce the National Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring System Act. I reintroduce the bill now because it is still vitally important to the United States.

The volcanoes in Alaska make up well over three-quarters of U.S. volcanoes that have erupted in the last two hundred years. About 50 volcanic eruptions occur around the world every year, according to the United States Geological Survey, USGS. The United States ranks third, behind Indonesia and Japan, in its number of historically active volcanoes.

That is why it is so important to fund volcano monitoring, which in Alaska is through the Alaska Volcano Observatory. The Alaska Volcano Observatory, AVO, is one of five Volcano observatories in the United States. It is a joint program of the United States Geological Survey, the Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and the State of Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys. AVO is unique in the United States and probably the world, in that it is a thoroughly collaborative undertaking of federal scientists, state scientists, and university faculty and students.

AVO was formed in 1988, after an eruption of Mount Augustine, and uses federal, state, and university resources to monitor and study Alaska's hazardous volcanoes, to predict and record
eruptive activity, and to mitigate volcanic hazards to life and property. Alaska has over 30 active volcanoes currently being monitored by the Alaska Volcano Observatory. No other observatory in the world comes even close to that number. AVO also analyzes available satellite data twice daily for thermal anomalies and ash plumes at about 80 volcanoes in the north Pacific. Russian volcanoes frequently put ash into areas where the U.S. has aviation safety responsibilities. Alaska's active volcanoes also offer superb opportunities for basic scientific investigations of volcanic processes. An important component of AVO's program is to conduct research at selected volcanic centers.

Alaska's volcanoes are potentially hazardous to passenger and freight aircraft as jet engines sometimes fail after ingesting volcanic ash. On December 15, 1989, a Boeing 747 flying 240 kilometers, 150 miles, northeast of Anchorage encountered an ash cloud erupted from Redoubt Volcano and lost power in all four jet engines. The plane, with 231 passengers aboard, lost more than 10,000 feet of elevation before the flight crew was able to restart the engines. After landing, it was determined the airplane had suffered about $80 million in damage. The U.S. Geological Survey said about 100 encounters of aircraft with volcanic ash were documented from 1983 to 2000. In some cases engines shut down briefly after sucking in volcanic debris, but there have been no fatal incidents.

The FAA estimates, based on information provided by the Federal Aviation Administration, that more than 80,000 large aircraft per year, and 30,000 people per day, are in the skies over and potentially downwind of many of Alaska's volcanoes, mostly on the heavily traveled great-circle routes between Europe, North America, and Asia. Along this route, which coincidently follows the northern portion of the Pacific ``ring of fire'', are over 100 volcanoes capable of depositing ash into the flight path. Some are in Japan, many are in Russia, but about half are in Alaska. By analyzing satellite imagery and working with the National Weather Service to predict where winds will carry the ash, AVO assists the Federal Aviation Administration in warning aircraft of areas to avoid.

Volcanic eruptions from Cook Inlet volcanoes, Spurr, Redoubt, Iliamna, and Augustine, can have severe impacts, as these volcanoes are nearest to Anchorage, Alaska's largest population center. The last major series of eruptions of Mt. Redoubt occurred in the spring of 2009. The Alaska Volcano Observatory had recorded 26 volcanic eruptions and/or explosions at Redoubt volcano.

There were several impacts from this series of eruptions from Mount Redoubt. Two major lahars, mudflows, moved down the Drift River and partially inundated an oil terminal. Airborne ash clouds posed a hazard to aviation and caused multiple flight cancellations and reroutes. Alaska Airlines cancelled approximately 200 flights. FedEx, United Parcel Service and several other cargo airlines rerouted aircraft to Seattle. Ash fall forced Ted Stevens International Airport, the third busiest cargo airport in the world, to close for 20 consecutive hours. Disruption to the aviation industry was significant for passenger travel and cargo transportation between Asia and North America. Minor ash fall impacted several communities as far downwind as Delta Junction, Alaska, 400 miles northeast of Anchorage. Elmendorf Air Force Base assets were temporarily relocated. There were also impacts to oil field operations due to the cessation of oil storage at Chevron's Drift River Oil Terminal. The economic impact is estimated to be less than or equal to the Redoubt eruptions also disrupted air traffic in the region. Hundreds of commercial flights were cancelled and cargo companies were significantly impacted. This resulted in employees being placed on unpaid leave during periods when airport operations were shut down.

International volcano monitoring is also a role of the Federal Government. It likely saved many lives--and significant money--in the case of the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines, where the United States had military bases at the time. The cataclysmic eruption lasted more than 10 hours and sent a cloud of ash as high as 22 miles into the air that grew to more than 300 miles across. The United States Geological Survey spent less than $1.5 million monitoring the volcano and was able to warn of the impending eruption, which allowed authorities to evacuate residents, as well as aircraft and other equipment from U.S. bases there. The USGS estimates that the efforts saved thousands of lives and prevented property losses of at least $250 million.

It is not enough to justify a program by just identifying a danger. The more important question is whether something can be done to reduce the impact of a volcanic eruption in terms of property damage and loss of life. That means getting people out of harm's way by providing advance warning. And this is exactly what the USGS Volcano Hazards Program seeks to do through the existing volcano observatories in the United States.

The advances made in monitoring can now provide much more accurate and timely predictions of eruptions. As an example, in 1989, AVO was only able to provide a few days warning before Mount Redoubt erupted. This year, they began to detect activity and notified the public two months before it eventually erupted.

The biggest challenge remains finding an adequate and stable source of funding. The USGS Volcano Hazards Program has been constantly underfunded. Both USGS and the FAA provide funding, but it is not enough to manage all the observatories or provide for an expansion of the system to cover increased monitoring and volcano research.

It is because of the inadequate funding, and critical importance of this program, that I intend to introduce a bill that will provide the funding stability that volcano monitoring needs. This program shows that with a modest investment, a very large benefit can be produced in reducing the impacts of catastrophic events.

My legislation will establish a National Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring System within the United States Geological Survey to monitor warn and protect citizens from undue and avoidable harm from volcanic activity. The USGS will coordinate a management plan with the other relevant federal departments, including the Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The legislation authorizes appropriations of $15 million annually to the Department of Interior to carry out the Act.

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