HILO Staff members from the U.S. Geological Surveys Hawaiian Volcano Observatory are settling into another temporary office in Hilo, their third move since the Kilauea volcano eruption forced the evacuation of their headquarters in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
HILO — Staff members from the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory are settling into another temporary office in Hilo, their third move since the Kilauea volcano eruption forced the evacuation of their headquarters in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
The Hawaii Tribune-Herald reported Friday that Tina Neal, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory’s chief scientist, says the relocation should be complete by the end of the month and she expects no glitches in their monitoring of active volcanos.
The agency is awaiting congressional approval of a bill that would allocate disaster recover funds and allow them to construct new headquarters. The bill, which could get a vote next week, identifies $72.3 million for repair and replacement of equipment and facilities from disasters in 2018. USGS would get funding for new headquarters under the recovery bill.
“Until that happens, we don’t have a budget to deal with, to begin to plan,” Neal said.
Neal says Hawaii Island will remain their base, even if some staff relocates to Oahu, which she says is being considered for additional technical capacity. Concerns that the U.S. Geological Survey was considering moving the facility to Oahu were initially raised by U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono in late March in questions to Interior Secretary David Bernhardt.
The former headquarters on Kilauea was heavily damaged during numerous collapses and earthquakes last year.
HVO has about 30 employees. A few will continue to work out of a warehouse in Keaau, where archives and some equipment are stored.
While the observatory’s new home in the Hilo Iron Works building is in the tsunami inundation zone, Neal said they mostly will occupy the second floor. Sensitive equipment will remain at the Keaau warehouse.
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Information from: Hawaii Tribune-Herald, http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/