Hoyle, Wyden, Merkley call for protection of weather buoy near Port Orford

Sep. 15—U.S. Representative Val Hoyle (OR-04) and Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley sent a bicameral letter to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) opposing the agency's plan to potentially decommission weather buoy 46015 ("buoy 15") off the coast of Port Orford.

"Let us be clear: decommissioning buoy 15 would present serious safety risks, threatening lives and livelihoods on the South Coast. Without buoy 15, [the National Weather Service] would produce models that would not be as accurate or timely," wrote Hoyle, Wyden and Merkley. "Fishermen and mariners have told us that buoy 15's weather and wave observations are essential for ensuring their safety."

Buoy 15 is the only NOAA weather buoy between Crescent City, California, and Newport, Oregon, and it provides the most representative weather forecasts for hundreds of miles along Oregon's South Coast. The buoy also helps to inform public safety measures for emergency personnel monitoring the south coast.

"We want to ensure that [the National Data Buoy Center, the National Weather Service, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration] are making these decisions with full context and information, and not making cost-cutting decisions based on reading spreadsheets in Washington, DC, or Silver Spring, Maryland," they wrote. "We strongly urge you to maintain and repair buoy 15 and not decommission it, and we are ready and willing to work with NOAA to ensure the agency gets the funding it needs to maintain and repair essential buoys, including buoy 15."