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Tours New Visitor Center and Alliance for Coastal Technologies
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Friday, February 11, 2005
SOLOMONS, MD – Congressman Steny Hoyer (D-MD) today visited the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory in Solomons where he toured the new Visitor Center and the headquarters of the Alliance for Coastal Technologies which opened in 2000. Congressman Hoyer has led the effort to secure more than $9 million for the Alliance for Coastal Technologies and the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory.
“The last time I was here, we were celebrating the Alliance’s new headquarters here at the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory. And Ken Tenore keeps me updated on the tremendous work you are doing and the success of the lab each year. We have worked together to secure approximately $9 million for the Alliance since 2000. And that investment is paying off.
“A little over six years ago, Ken came to my office to sell the concept of the Alliance. He said that although new and exciting sensing technology was being developed, it was not being deployed in the field.
“The reason for this was really two-fold. For starters, many researchers had difficulty commercializing their innovations. As a result, promising new technology was not being brought to the marketplace. Second, many of the end users of this technology did not know that this new equipment would perform the way that it claimed. Unfortunately for the cutting edge equipment you use, there is no Consumer Reports or Underwriter Laboratories.
“Researchers and resource managers ought to be spending the majority of their time collecting and analyzing data—not determining what equipment to use and if it will work as advertised.
“The Alliance has made that possible. And it has been such a huge success, it now has 7 partners throughout the United States and will soon bring on another partner from the State of Alaska. This growth is a testament to the Alliance’s effectiveness in making the management and understanding of coastal ecosystems better because of new technology.
“As you all know, this is a dynamic environment—one that can only be properly understood with accurate, continuous, and often real time data. With increasing demands on our aquatic resources and added pressures from development, our margin of error is razor thin. In order to meet this challenge, we are going to require accurate information. Well, the Alliance has filled that role better than we could have imagined.
“Let me close by saying this. We stand here this morning within a stone’s throw of the Chesapeake Bay. In the last twenty years, there has been an unprecedented effort to restore the Chesapeake. Collectively, the federal, state, and local government have spent tens of millions on this effort.
“That is why I am extremely disappointed with the President’s cuts to programs dedicated to cleaning up one of our nation’s most treasured natural resources, particularly in light of the federal, state, and local partnership necessary to make any real improvements to the Bay’s restoration.
“In November of last year, I joined the Maryland Congressional delegation in calling on the Administration to commit $1 billion in fiscal year 2006 towards restoring the Bay's water quality, but the President’s budget falls far short of that goal. The budget submitted does not contain the $1 billion, and in fact many Bay-related programs are cut.
“The EPA's budget for Chesapeake related programs was reduced to just $20 million.
His budget also has eliminated or cut additional programs crucial to cleaning up the Bay, including agriculture conservation programs that help farmers reduce agricultural runoff entering the Bay, the Small Watershed Grant program and funds for the Oyster Recovery Project.
“His budget drastically cuts the Clean Water State Revolving Program, which provides loans to build sewage and wastewater plants and other water-quality projects, from $1.1B to $730 million.
“The Chesapeake is a national treasure that requires a strong federal role. As we begin to consider 2006 priorities, I will continue to fight to restore cuts that help clean the Chesapeake Bay, improve water quality, and promote conservation.
“There are troubling signs on the horizon for the health of the Bay. If we are going to effectively manage this resource, we are going to need information. I, for one, am proud that the Alliance will be at the forefront of getting the information out quickly and effectively.”
The Chesapeake Biological Laboratory is a marine research facility of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science located on the Western Shore of the Chesapeake Bay. A mid-Bay location at the mouth of the Patuxent River places it within easy reach of the diverse aquatic and terrestrial habitats of one of the world's largest estuarine ecosystems.
The Alliance for Coastal Technologies (ACT) is a NOAA funded partnership of organizations interested in developing and applying sensor technologies for monitoring and studying coastal environments. ACT was created to oversee the successful implementation of an Integrated Ocean Observing System and management of effective coastal science and resources.
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