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STAR-BULLETIN / 1997
GeoEngineers, Inc. will be paid $1.3 million for a short-term contract to keep the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge operational. Pictured above are gooney birds on the atoll.



Firm to handle Midway upkeep

GeoEngineers will handle the atoll's
infrastructure for the next 6 months


By Diana Leone
dleone@starbulletin.com

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has hired a Portland, Ore., firm to keep the lights on at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge for the next six months.

GeoEngineers, Inc. will be paid $1.3 million for the short-term contract to keep the atoll's infrastructure operational while the agency decides on its long-term plans for the remote island refuge.

The 200-employee environmental and civil engineering firm will place 15 people on the island Wednesday to handle services such as operating the power and water distribution systems and limited activities at the airfield.

"We're excited about the opportunity to work with Fish and Wildlife to ensure the island is kept in an operational condition that ensures an easy transition to the island's future use," company principal Sean Ragain said.

"We have lots of experience solving complex problems in remote locations."

The company's work will be on a fee-for-service basis that will not include operating the eco-resort features, Ragain said. Midway Phoenix, the former operator on the island, had a concession arrangement with Fish and Wildlife to provide ecotourism services, as well as to run the infrastructure.

"We are pleased to have found such a qualified contractor for this interim period while we assess future operations on Midway Atoll," said Craig Manson, assistant secretary of Interior for Fish and Wildlife and Parks.

"Although we are not in a position at this time to reopen our doors to visitors, we hope to be able to do so in the future," Manson said.

"We are working with the U.S. Navy and will host an event on Midway to honor the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Midway in early June, but the terms of this short-term contract are fairly basic."

From Wednesday to Nov. 1, GeoEngineers will provide operational staff, inventory functional equipment and facilities, and determine operational costs of the island infrastructure. The airfield will be open for Fish and Wildlife Service charter flights and for emergency use by the military, U.S. Coast Guard and private aircraft.GeoEngineers recently completed two jobs for Fish and Wildlife: an environmental cleanup on Laysan Island in the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge this spring, and petroleum storage tank repairs at the Midway Atoll fuel farm in the fall of 2001.



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