Good Progress Made In One Month Of Shuttle Recovery
Release Date: March 1, 2003
Release Number: 3171-41
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Lufkin, TX -- Saturday, March 1, marks the one-month anniversary of the Columbia shuttle tragedy and efforts to recover shuttle materials have progressed well, recovery officials said today.
"We have assembled a large complement of expertise for land, air and water search operations," said Federal Coordinating Officer Scott Wells of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), "and, weather permitting, are making good progress in retrieving materials that may help NASA solve the Columbia failure puzzle."
"The NASA family is extremely grateful for the assistance received from all of the federal, state and local agencies, as well as private citizens and volunteers, as we search for clues that will help us solve the mystery of what happened to the Space Shuttle Columbia and our family members who were aboard," said Allen Flynt, NASA Oversight Director.
"Cooperation and good coordination have been the hallmarks of our duty here. Although we are saddened by the events that brought us together, we are thankful for the skill, dedication and commitment everyone has brought to the task and for the new friendships we have forged in the process," he said.
Following are some highlights of activities undertaken by responders to the Columbia shuttle event:
- President Bush designated FEMA to coordinate the overall shuttle recovery effort. In concert with other federal, state, local government and volunteer agencies, FEMA established a Disaster Field Office (DFO) in Lufkin, Texas, as the main administrative office to coordinate search operations. A satellite DFO was set up in Fort Worth to coordinate west Texas searches and another facility was set up in Barksdale, Louisiana, to work with east Texas and Louisiana debris collection. The Fort Worth and Barksdale operations were folded into the Lufkin operation this week. Among federal agencies responding are: FEMA, NASA, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Department of Defense (DOD) Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF), National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), U.S. Forest Service (USFS), National Park Service (NPS) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). In addition, four collection centers are operating near the main debris retrieval areas. About 5,250 federal and state personnel are involved in the operations.
- FEMA mission-assigned EPA to deal with hazardous materials found in the search area. EPA has nearly 700 personnel working closely with NASA and search crews to respond to hazardous materials that may turn up during searching. An EPA team accompanies each 20-person search crew to handle any debris found within the search grids. In addition, EPA personnel respond to any other reports of potential debris site. Also, EPA staffs the four local debris collection centers. A toll-free telephone number -- 1-866-446-6603 -- has been established to receive all calls about debris finds. The hours of operation are 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week. Recovery officials ask all to keep a lookout for shuttle material and report locations.
- In support of EPA, the U.S. Navy was assigned to coordinate water search operations. An operations base was set up at Toledo Bend Reservoir. There are now eight dive teams working the reservoir: three U.S. Navy, two EPA, one each from the City of Galveston, City of Houston and the Texas Department of Public Safety. In addition, six boats equipped with side and multi-beam scanning sonar are looking for dive targets, four on the reservoir and two on Lake Nacogdoches. The Navy also will deploy various handheld sonar units and an autonomous unit that can be programmed to search underwater areas independently. About 130 personnel are working the water search operation.
- Following a tremendous initial search effort by local governments and volunteers, four base camps were established to house interagency crews at the request of the Texas Forest Service. These crews relieved the search burden on state and local resources by bringing in firefighting crews from other parts of the nation. Crews from 39 states have joined the effort. To date, about 4,500 personnel have arrived and about 155 crews of 20 people each daily are combing through NASA assigned search areas in a corridor 240 by 10 miles wide from Ellis County in the west to Toledo Bend Reservoir in the east. Four crew base camps were set up: Nacogdoches (1,100 personnel), Palestine (about 1,000), Hemphill (about 1,000) and Corsicana (about 1,350). A mobilization unit was established at Longview Airport to assist crew arrival, travel to and from base camps and departure. Since February 14, these out-of-state crews have expended nearly 132,000 manhours on the search.
- Extensive air searches are under way as well. Operating out of two facilities, one in the Lufkin area and one in the Palestine area, 33 helicopters and nine fixed wing aircraft fly search grids over the 240 by 10 mile corridor seeking possible debris sites. Possible sites are relayed to ground crews for inspection.
- NASA has worked to assist the independent Columbia Accident Investigation Board by coordinating the search for materials pertinent to the investigation of the accidents cause. Using information provided from a variety of sources, NASA is trying to pinpoint the location of material that may have separated from Columbia as it broke up during reentry. This information is being provided to multiple agencies that have the air, backcountry and underwater expertise to perform the searches. NASA is using its expertise in the construction of Columbia to identify the materials that are found to guide the search, and to reconstruct the shuttle in a hangar at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) launch and landing site. To date, approximately 14 percent (by weight) of Columbia has been delivered to KSC for use in the reconstruction efforts.
- The State of Texas rushed to assist local communities in the initial search, and continues to support the federal agencies responding to the event. The Texas Department of Public Safetys Division of Emergency Management coordinates the state response. Among state agency personnel committed were: 353 state troopers, about 800 National Guard, four aircraft, 17 helicopters, 140 Texas Forest Service personnel, 35 horse-mounted search teams, 20 Texas Department of Transportation personnel, 27 Texas Commission of Environmental Quality personnel and various other units such as dogs and handlers, mapping support and game wardens. Most have now returned to their regular assignments.
Last Modified: Monday, 14-Apr-2003 10:24:18