Larsen endorses Bellingham for NOAA relocation

Bellingham Business Journal, Dec, 2007

U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen announced on Nov. 28 that he endorses Bellingham to become the next home of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) Marine Operations Center-Pacific.

"In my mind, there is really only one answer for NOAA, and that is Bellingham," he said at a public gathering at the Port of Bellingham's deepwater shipping facility.

The port has been wooing NOAA to relocate its Seattle-based operations to the Waterfront District for the last several years, and recently stepped up its effort recently with a "Get NOAA to Bellingham" letter-writing campaign geared toward state legislators.

Larsen said he chose to support Bellingham instead of Everett, the other city in his district that has shown interest in NOAA, because of several factors. Bellingham's waterfront has deepwater access, room for onsite offices, a connection with Western Washington University's Huxley College and potential for expansion, he said.

NOAA has hired a consultant to conduct a site selection study and is expected to have a list of possibilities by January. By May, it will narrow those possibilities down to a short list and will likely make a final decision by late summer or early fall, port executive director Jim Darling said.

Even though Larsen has the ability to introduce legislation to circumvent the site selection process and place NOAA in Bellingham, he said he would not do that.

"I want to ensure that NOAA has the ability to make a decision based on the merits [of the site]," he said.

Larsen said about half of the nation's NOAA fleet has been placed by legislation, but that he didn't think that was a healthy process.

NOAA's presence would include six ships, 18 small boats, 78 landside employees and 178 researchers and onboard crewmembers. It is expected to generate $19 million a year locally.

The agency criteria for a site includes 18,000 square feet of office space, 25,000 square feet of shop/craft room and 2,000 linear square feet for berths.