Secretary Salazar Holds News Conference on Mt. Redoubt Eruption
March 23, 2009
Music/Announcer: This is a podcast from the U.S. Department of the Interior
Ron Tull: The eruption of Redoubt Volcano approximately 100 miles southwest of Anchorage, Alaska, continues. Ash plumes generated by the explosive bursts have been observed drifting north/ northeast. Ash fall has been reported in Skwentna and the Chuitna area.
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar held a teleconference Monday to update the media on the situation.
Ken Salazar: The essence of what is going on here is that there are three risk areas that we're concerned about and have been doing the kind of preventive work that our monitoring has allowed.
The first has to do with air traffic. The ash cloud going up to 60,000 feet means that it could affect air traffic within that entire area. There are about 20,000 passengers of flight through that area on any given day. By being able to monitor this situation with real on-time data, what we have done is we've worked with the air industry to make sure the air traffic in the area is taking the appropriate precautions so that none of these 20,000 passengers that fly through there on a daily basis will be put into danger.
Secondly, the risk order of people on the ground. People on the ground have known for some time that eruption could, in fact, occur and so they have taken the precautionary measures that they would be taking in anticipation of ash that might fall out from Redoubt Volcano.
And the third has to do with facilities in the area. The closest facility to Redoubt Volcano is the Drift River Oil Terminal. It is a major terminal. There have been activities that have been taking to try to anticipate this kind of occurrence from creating damage to the environment. And at this point in time, we believe that everything is safe there.
I think that the message that I would give to people today who are watching what is happening with the volcano in Alaska is that first of all, public safety is the foremost concern that we all have with respect to this volcano and other volcanoes. The fact that we have been able to do the monitoring through the USGS has allowed the people who would be in the affected pathway of the volcano and its aftermath to make sure that they’re taking the appropriate precautionary measures. And that's true, whether it's traffic through the air or people on the ground or facilities that are close by.
The second message is that this is an indicator and a proof of the importance of earth science to the United States of America and to the Department of the Interior and the USGS. Through the work of the USGS and being able to monitor what was happening with the volcano Redoubt, we were able to actually forecast this event occurring over the last several months. And because that forecast essentially has taken place, hopefully we will be able to prevent the endangerment of people and places that otherwise would have occurred.
Ron Tull: This has been a podcast from the US Department of the Interior Radio News Service. I'm Ron Tull, Washington.
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