Volcanic ash response plan in the works

Representatives of various federal agencies are arriving in the Northern Marianas this month to help the Commonwealth government draft a volcanic ash response plan.

A separate team from the U.S. Geological Survey will also arrive on-island this month to conduct volcanic mapping on Pagan, as part of volcano hazards assessment for the CNMI.

These developed as Anatahan’s volcanic eruption produced haze that limited navigational visibility in affected areas to about 2.5 statute miles. The EMO said, however, that volcanic activity significantly declined yesterday, although it intensified last weekend to one of the strongest magnitudes of the eruption this year.

EMO director Rudolfo Pua said this would be the first time that federal agencies would pool efforts for a volcanic ash response plan for the CNMI.

Those agencies include the U.S. Geological Survey, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Air Force Weather Agency, National Weather Service, and the Naval Forces Marianas.

Representatives of those federal agencies and local emergency responders would sit down in a workshop sometime this month, which would be funded by the USGS, according to Pua.

The event comes in the heels of CNMI efforts to obtain funding for volcano hazard assessment and the installation of early warning devices in the CNMI.

In a recent report, the USGS said that majority of 13 Northern Marianas volcanoes have no real-time ground-based monitoring at all, despite its assessment that at least four of them pose high threat to aviation and ground safety. The USGS has listed eight CNMI volcanoes as high priority targets for monitoring improvement.

Among the four volcanoes that are considered as high threat, the government only has ground-based monitoring capability on Anatahan, where the only functional seismic station recently bogged down, necessitating repair work. But the Emergency Management Office said it has restored monitoring on that island.

The three other high-threat volcanoes in Pagan, Alamagan and Agrigan have zero real-time, ground-based monitoring. Based on required monitoring level for high-threat volcanoes, about 12 to 20 stations should be installed within 20 kilometers of the volcano’s vent, among other sensors.

The USGS classified four other volcanoes in Asuncion, Farallon de Pajaros, Guguan, and Sarigan as moderate threat, a classification that requires a monitoring network of three to four near-field stations and at least six within the 20-km vent. None of those volcanoes have real-time ground-based monitoring, except for that on Sarigan, which is currently inadequate.

Five other volcanoes in the CNMI fall under low or very low threat classifications, which require limited or minimal monitoring. The volcanoes in Maug, Ahyi and Supply Reef have zero ground-based monitoring capability. Monitoring of volcanoes in Esmeralda Bank and Ruby needs improvement.

The USGS said Anatahan should be one of the federal government’s highest priority targets for monitoring improvement, besides four other erupting volcanoes such as Mount St. Helens in Washington. Other high priority targets include Pagan, Agrigan, Alamagan, Guguan, Farallon de Pajaros, and Asuncion. The USGS also considers Sarigan as high priority target.

With some 25,000 flights flying over CNMI airspace in a year, the USGS said the islands’ volcanoes pose great risk to air traffic, where more than one million commercial aircraft pass through yearly.

Volcanic ash threatens jets and aircraft in the air, as it forms deposit in engines, restricts airflow, and clogs fuel nozzles. Minute particles of volcanic ash also contaminate aircraft’s ventilation, lubrication, hydraulic and electronic systems. They cause erosion and pitting of leading edges of windshields and landing lights, as well as erosion of compressor blades.