{"id":152,"date":"2014-10-06T22:41:01","date_gmt":"2014-10-06T22:41:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/oregonstatecce\/?p=152"},"modified":"2014-10-06T22:41:01","modified_gmt":"2014-10-06T22:41:01","slug":"task-force-outlines-major-initiatives-prepare-pacific-northwest-earthquake-tsunami","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/oregonstatecce\/2014\/10\/06\/task-force-outlines-major-initiatives-prepare-pacific-northwest-earthquake-tsunami\/","title":{"rendered":"Task force outlines major initiatives to prepare for Pacific Northwest earthquake, tsunami"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"5619603229_809ddb56c5_o\"<\/a>A task force that studied implementation of the Oregon Resilience Plan submitted to the Oregon legislature an ambitious program to save lives, mitigate damage and prepare for a massive subduction zone earthquake and tsunami looming in the future of the Pacific Northwest.<\/p>\n

The recommendations of the\u00a0Governor\u2019s Task Force on Resilience Plan Implementation<\/a>, if enacted, would result in spending more than $200 million every biennium in a long-term initiative.<\/p>\n

The program would touch everyone from energy providers and utility companies to their customers, parents and school children, businesses, builders, land use regulators, transportation planners and fire responders. It would become one of the most aggressive efforts in the nation to prepare for a costly, life-threatening disaster that\u2019s seen as both catastrophic and inevitable.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a clear plan for what needs to be done, and now is the time to take our first significant steps forward,\u201d said\u00a0Scott Ashford<\/a>, dean of the College of Engineering at Oregon State University, chair of the Governor\u2019s Task Force, and an expert on\u00a0liquefaction<\/a>\u00a0and earthquake engineering who has studied disasters all over the world, similar to those that Oregon will face.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe scope of the disaster that the Pacific Northwest faces is daunting,\u201d Ashford said. \u201cAnd we won\u2019t be able to accomplish everything we need to do in one or two years, but hopefully we won\u2019t have to. What\u2019s important is to get started, and the time for that is now.\u201d<\/p>\n

The task force making\u00a0these recommendations<\/a>\u00a0included members of the Oregon legislature; advisers to Gov. Kitzhaber; private companies; the Oregon Office of Emergency Management; Oregon Department of Transportation; the Oregon Health Authority; city, county\u00a0 and business leaders; the Red Cross and others.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Oregon Resilience Plan<\/a>, which was completed in early 2013, outlines more than 140 recommendations to reduce risk and improve recovery from a massive earthquake and tsunami that\u2019s anticipated on the Cascadia Subduction Zone, similar to the one that hit Fukushima, Japan, in 2011.<\/p>\n

The newest analysis identified specific steps that are recommended for the 2015-17 biennium. They address not only earthquake damage, but also the special risks facing coastal residents from what is expected to be a major tsunami.<\/p>\n

One of the largest single steps would be biennial funding of $200 million or more for the OBDD\/IFA Seismic Rehabilitation Grant Program, with similar or higher levels of funding in the future. Funds could be used to rehabilitate existing public structures such as schools to improve their seismic safety; demolish unsafe structures; or replace facilities that must be moved out of a tsunami inundation zone.<\/p>\n

It was recommended that additional revenue be identified to complete work within a decade on the most critical roads and bridges that form \u201cbackbone\u201d transportation routes; that the state Department of Geology and Mineral Industries receive $20 million to update inventory and evaluate critical facilities; and that $5 million be made available through existing programs for tsunami resilience planning by coastal communities.<\/p>\n

Utility companies regulated by the Oregon Public Utility Commission would also be required to conduct seismic assessments of their facilities, and be allowed through rate increases to recover their costs if they make prudent investments to mitigate vulnerabilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I studied areas that had been hard-hit by earthquakes<\/a>\u00a0in Chile, New Zealand and Japan, it became apparent that money spent to prepare for and minimize damage from the earthquake was hugely cost-effective,\u201d Ashford said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne utility company in New Zealand said they saved about $10 for every $1 they had spent in retrofitting and rebuilding their infrastructure,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot we can do right now that will make a difference and save money in the long run.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other key recommendations included:<\/p>\n