On September 30, 2014, several OR&R Emergency Response Division (ERD) staff and a Wildlife Biologist from the Alaska Fisheries Science Center met with the Environmental Program Director at Naval Station Everett, Washington.

The visit included a tour of the USS Nimitz (CVN 68), a nuclear powered aircraft carrier. In addition to the aircraft carrier, Naval Station Everett is home port to five surface ships and two U.S. Coast Guard cutters. ERD staff were able to spend time on the 4.5-acre Nimitz flight deck and on the captain's bridge (where NOAA Electronic Navigational Charts were displayed). Staff also toured below deck in the hangar bays, where aircraft are stored and maintained, and specialized spaces such as the media center, flight ops bridge, and the mess deck. The tour guide described how the vessels are protectively boomed while in port, how the vessel’s waste water is treated prior to release to the local sewage plant, and how special lookouts are posted in order to avoid whale strikes.

For more information, contact Mark.Dix@noaa.gov.

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