NOAA Starts 2013 Post-Sandy Surveys at Statue of Liberty

NOAA will kick off its spring season for post-Sandy hydrographic work on April 15, as a navigation response team -- equipped with high-tech surveying equipment -- searches for underwater storm debris and maps the depths surrounding Liberty Island. 

Navigation Response Team 5, with NOAA's Office of Coast Survey, was one of the first in-water responders to help re-open the Port of New York and New Jersey immediately after Hurricane Sandy hit last year. They are returning now at the request of the National Park Service, which is working to re-establish safe navigation and docking at the Statue of Liberty, in preparation for its planned re-opening on July 4, 2013.

Dr. David Conlin, chief of the National Park Service's Submerged Resources Center, expressed his appreciation for NOAA's effort. "The Park Service needs highly qualified hydrographic assistance as we move forward with repairs to Liberty Island's permanent docks and as we make sure surrounding waters are safe for passenger ferries and private vessels," Conlin explained. "We are very pleased that Coast Survey is stepping up to help re-open this icon for the American people."

Equipped with multibeam echo-sounding technology and side scan sonar, the navigation response team will locate storm debris and identify areas that have depths suitable for the installation of temporary floating docks.