Chairmen Seek Answers on Hurricane Center Controversy
(Washington, DC) The U.S. House Committee on Science and Technology's Subcommittee on Energy and Environment and the Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight met jointly today to evaluate recent events at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Tropical Prediction Center (TPC/NHC).
“Things may be relatively calm over the Atlantic, but it has been stormy at the Center and this is a situation that must be resolved so this organization can do its important work for the public – forecasting hurricanes and issuing warnings to the emergency management community and the public,” said Energy and Environment Subcommittee Chairman Nick Lampson (D-TX).
With the escalation of the QuikSCAT controversy in recent days, and subsequent action by NOAA Administrator Admiral Conrad Lautenbacher to place Hurricane Center Director William Proenza on leave, the Subcommittees called today’s hearing. In exercising their jurisdictional oversight over NOAA, the Committee explored the process that culminated in Mr. Proenza’s removal as NHC Director and sought to assess whether the Center is indeed still capable of providing necessary forecasts during the current hurricane season.
The NHC is a unit of NOAA responsible for tracking and forecasting tropical storms and hurricanes. Organizationally, the Center is a branch of the Tropical Prediction Center (TPC) of the National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP).
Mr. Proenza became director of the NHC's Tropical Prediction Center in January 2007, succeeding veteran director Max Mayfield. On July 9, 2007, Mr. Proenza was placed on leave by Adm. Lautenbacher and directed to remain away from the Center facilities. At that time, Adm. Lautenbacher stated that "…current conditions at the TPC pose an obstacle to the team's completion of its work, as well as the Team's concern that, as expressed by many of you, there currently exists a level of anxiety and disruption that threatens the TPC's ability to fulfill its mission to protect the American people…."
“If you look past the apparently spontaneous rebellion by employees in the lab, and look past what has unfolded at the managerial level of NOAA, the question arises whether Mr. Proenza was pushed out because he was a whistle blower, a truth teller,” said Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Brad Miller (D-NC).
“What is going on?” continued Lampson. “That’s what we’d all like to know. This is hurricane season. The only storms the Center should be dealing with are those that form out in the ocean. I still do not fully understand why Admiral Lautenbacher believed that dispatching an assessment team with little experience or knowledge of NWS or forecasting to the Center was the appropriate way to deal with staff complaints about Mr. Proenza. It seems the arrival of the assessment team exacerbated problems with the staff, and has left the NHC without a Director.”
The results of that assessment team’s final report were discussed at today’s hearing. The Committee heard directly from Mr. Proenza and Adm. Lautenbacher, in addition to regional emergency managers who were impressed by Mr. Proenza’s leadership in his previous position. The Committee is also reaching out to NHC Center staff members for their perspective on events.
"…we are the conduits from which the warnings and watches are communicated to the Moms and Dads and sisters and brothers whose very lives depend on that information," said Robie Robinson of the Emergency Managers Association of Texas. "Members of the Subcommittees, forecasting the weather requires courage because human beings can not control what is going to happen. I hope that the leadership of NOAA and the NWS do not move into this new century by squelching the courage of their people to speak out."
On July 13, 2007 several Committee Chairmen sent a letter to Admiral Lautenbacher seeking documents and records of communications from senior NWS officials and others involved in the controversy. NOAA made an initial delivery of some documents late yesterday evening.
This is the Committee's first formal hearing on the events at the NHC. The investigation continues into the state of the Center and its ability to perform its vital job effectively.
For more information on this hearing, click here.
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