Unalaska, AK – The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is using $5.3 million of new federal stimulus funds to survey and chart Unimak Pass and other Alaskan waters. Unimak Pass has not been surveyed since the early 1900s. The new information will be used to update nautical charts in the high-traffic area. About 3,000 ships go through the pass each year, many while traveling on the Great Circle Route. Ben Evans of the NOAA Office of Coast Survey says the mapping project improves the safety of the region.

"If we have up-to-date surveys, that means we have up-to-date nautical charts which means that these container ships and other commercial vessels, as well as fishing vessels and even recreational users, can navigate with greater confidence," Evans said. "It certainly prevents environmental accidents and also allows for more efficient and faster transportation of goods and services between the United States and our trading partners all over the world."

NOAA crews and hired contractors began surveying Unimak Pass and other critical areas around Alaska earlier this summer. The crews are using multi-beam echo sounders to get a full picture of the ocean floor and its topography, including volcanic features and large marine debris. They are also grabbing samples of the bottom to confirm the sounder data. Evans says the information will be processed this fall and used to update the charts.

"Certainly anything that's dangerous, anything that's really unexpected, they'll let us know right away and we'll have that on the charts in a matter of weeks if not sooner. But for a proper chart update, again, just sort of run-of-the-mill updates to the chart, we're probably looking on the order of a year to a year and a half."

NOAA does topographical surveys like this every year, but this year their funds were supplemented by $40 million of stimulus funds to survey critical areas around the country. Critical areas are those with high traffic that have uncertain or changing ocean floors and haven't been recently surveyed.

The work is included in the Recovery Act because it keeps people employed doing projects in the short-term and helps marine transportation in the long-term.

"And so if we can provide a safe, efficient marine transportation system, that's a huge engine for the overall economy in the United States in the long term," Evans said.

According to the Department of Commerce, ocean transportation contributes $742 billion to the national economy per year countrywide. The Recovery Act money will fund surveys for 674 square nautical miles off the coast of Alaska and nearly 2,000 total nation-wide.

Alaska's federal legislators also recently announced other grant funding for the region. The City of Unalaska will receive an additional 951 thousand 500 dollars for the geothermal project. The money is to be used to find accessible commercial grade geothermal resources on Makushin and use it to develop a 10 to 12 megawatt geothermal power plant.