Gulf of Mexico Disaster Response Center
NOAA GoMDRC Siteplan (Artist Rendering)
Project Description
NOAA is constructing a Gulf of Mexico Disaster Response Center (GoMDRC) facility in Mobile, Alabama. to provide a standing capability of preparedness and response activities in the Gulf of Mexico region.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) must ensure that it can continue to efficiently and effectively meet its mission requirements to reduce the environmental, economic, and human risk consequences resulting from natural or human¬induced emergencies along the nation's coasts. The Gulf of Mexico is par¬ticularly vulnerable to disasters due to a combination of factors: frequent hurricanes and other severe weather events; the pollution potential of its oil industry; its fragile ecosystem; the number of economically critical ports, waterways and fishing; and, complex hurricane evacuation scenarios.
NOAA has been, and remains, heavily engaged in preparedness and response activi¬ties throughout the Gulf region—this high level of NOAA activity has generated a critical need for a physical center in the Mobile, Alabama, vicinity to house staff and programming that will deliver data, observations, forecasts and scientific expertise before, during, and after emergency events in the Gulf of Mexico. By avoiding, mini¬mizing and responding to the impacts of these emergencies, NOAA will be able to ensure that lives, property and natural resources are better protected.
Interior Perspective of the NOAA GoMDRC
Location
Public Law (P.L.) 110¬393 reads as follows:
"NOAA is authorized to enter into a land lease with Mobile County, Alabama, for a period of not less than 40 years, on such terms and conditions as NOAA deems appropriate, for purposes of construction of a Gulf of Mexico Disaster Response Center facility, provided that the lease is at no cost to the government. NOAA may enter into agreements with state, local, or county governments for purposes of joint use, operations and occupancy of such facility."
Under such authority, NOAA plans to enter into a 49¬year no¬cost lease with the Mobile County Emergency Management Agency (MCEMA) to build the GoDMRC facility in Mobile, Alabama. A Use Agreement between NOAA Oceans and MCEMA will allow MCEMA access to the response operations area of the planned facility when an incident has occurred requiring emergency response services and, in re¬turn, will allow NOAA Oceans to occupy a proposed adjacent MCEMA facility, if nec¬essary.
| Program Phase | Schedule (Start - Complete) |
|---|---|
| Business Case/Site Analyses/Programming | 09/06 - 09/08 |
| Design | 09/08 - 09/09 |
| Construction/Occupancy | 09/09 - 03/11 |
Congress has appropriated $11,060,000 under HR 2764 for a new NOAA National Ocean Service (NOAA Oceans) facility in Mobile, AL. NOAA awarded a design contract in December 2008 to GDS (Gibbons Drake Scott, Inc). Award of the construction contract was awarded September of 2009.