Geothermal energy, volcano monitors on DOI agenda

The long delayed plan to set up volcano monitoring stations and the proposed geothermal power plant in the Northern Marianas are on the agenda for the visit by Department of the Interior officials next week.

Doug Domenech, deputy chief of staff for Interior Secretary Kempthorne and acting deputy assistant secretary for insular affairs, is leading a delegation of DOI officials to Hawaii, Guam, and the CNMI. It will be his first visit to the Commonwealth.

Joining Domenech are Nikolao Pula, director of the Office of Insular Affairs; Tim Petty, DOI deputy assistant secretary for water and science; Tom Murray, senior research scientist at the U.S. Geological Survey; and Larry Broun, emergency coordinator at DOI.

The team will accompany Janet W. Creighton, the recently appointed deputy assistant to President Bush and director of intergovernmental affairs, on her first visit to Guam.

Contrary to what many expect, immigration “federalization” will not be focus of the federal officials’ trip to the Commonwealth. But Pula said in a media statement that the team would “probably discuss other important issues that may come up including the CNMI immigration legislation recently signed by the President.”

The main issue for discussion is the planned military buildup in Guam and the region.

“Ms. Creighton’s presence elevates the importance of the issue at a higher level of the federal government,” said Pula.

Creighton and the DOI team will meet Gov. Felix Camacho and other Guam officials. They will be briefed by senior Navy and Air Force officials, including Rear Admiral William French.

The DOI team will meet with local officials regarding energy issues on Guam and the Northern Marianas to follow up on congressional interest on alternative energy in all insular areas. In addition, USGS scientists will discuss their proposal to establish volcano-monitoring stations in the CNMI, and a possible geothermal energy plant.

The group will also coordinate emergency management issues with local homeland security officials.

Further, the DOI team will visit area hospitals and discuss a health summit planned for September 2008 with the governors and health care administrators. This is a follow up to Kempthorne’s interest in improving health care on the islands, said Pula.

In its recently concluded trip to Hawaii, the DOI team met with Gov. Linda Lingle and delivered a $10.5 million grant to compensate the state for the costs of hosting citizens of the so-called “freely associated states”—Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and Palau—who have settled in Hawaii.

The multipurpose trip “demonstrates Interior Secretary [Dirk] Kempthorne’s continued support and focus on a variety of island issues,” he added.