New firm to manage Midway Atoll services
By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Science Writer
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has hired a Portland, Ore., engineering firm to keep the utilities working and the airport open on Midway Atoll when its longtime contractor, Midway Phoenix, leaves tomorrow.
The six-month, $1.27 million contract with GeoEngineers does not call for the company to operate tourism facilities. The service hopes by the end of the term to have located a contractor that will provide long-term services, including both the operation of facilities and tourism.
"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," said Craig Manson, assistant secretary of the Department of Interior for Fish and Wildlife and Parks.
He said the Fish and Wildlife Service is working with the Navy to arrange a special event in early June to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Midway.
The Navy turned over Midway to the Fish and Wildlife Service in the mid-1990s to run it as a wildlife refuge. The service hired a contractor, Midway Phoenix, to keep the old Navy base operating, but now as a site for limited tourism. People came for fishing, viewing seabirds and other wildlife, and to pay homage to the atoll's military history.
But visitor numbers did not meet expectations. After five years, Midway Phoenix said it was pulling out, saying federal restrictions prevented it from recovering its investment.
One of the reasons the Fish and Wildlife Service sought a commercial operator was to defray the costs of running the refuge. Midway is 1,200 miles from the main islands and requires constant maintenance to keep the airport operational and water and power systems running. Without the airport, all access would be via long open-ocean ship voyages.
Manson said the service has not determined just what form the atoll operation will take. He said the agency hopes to have decided how to proceed, and to have selected a long-term operator by Nov. 1, when the GeoEngineers contract ends.
GeoEngineers has 200 employees and specializes in engineering and environmental science work.
Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 245-3074.
