projects. it started with engineers coding all night long, sort of hunkering down and coding all night long and creating new products for facebook. this is designed so engineers can create new bells and whistles and products for facebook. something they aren't doing as part of their daily job but it will also mean that people who are not engineers that work on other things for facebook, whether they are designers or in advertising can take some time and try to be creative and come up with something that's outside of their daily responsibilities that they think would be a fun addition for their company or something else creative or separate from facebook. this is really a time to be creative and hunker down and have a lot of fun in a kind of dorky engineer way. >> julia boorstin who is covering the story for cnbc. the ipo launch tomorrow at an estimated price of $38 a share. we'll continue the conversation tomorrow morning on gridlock in washington as we see the debate back and forth between the speaker of the house and congressional democrats on raising the debt limit. we'll also be joined by two

members of congress, sean duffy is a republican from wisconsin, and nick rayhall say democrat from west virginia. the "washington journal" begins every day at 7:00 a.m. eastern, 4:00 for those of you on the west coast. thanks for joining us on this thursday. enjoy the rest of your evening. coming up on c-span3, a senate hearing on debris from last year's japanese tsunami that's now washing up on the u.s. coast. then a house oversight hearing on the u.s. fire administration. and today's pentagon briefing covered a meeting between defense secretary leon panetta and the israeli defense minister. all day saturday on book tv, the gaithersburg book festival is live. it runs throughout the day. notables include timny noah at 12:20 on the have and have notes

in the great diversage. ken ackerackerman on j. edgar h. and at 3:20, neuroscientist david lyndon on why the good stuff feels so good in "the compass of pleasure." also this weekend on afterwards, jay nordlinger. >> there's this myth that he established his prize for peace out of guilt over his invention of dynamite. and i think i say in my book that it's hard to know exactly what's in a man's head and heart, but this seems not to be true. it seems he was quite proud of his achievements in the area of explosives. they built what today we called infrastructure, canals, tunnels, railroads. >> peace, they say, sunday night at 9:00 eastern and pacific on book tv every weekend on c-span2. this is c-span3 with politics and public affairs programming throughout the week. and every weekend, 48 hours of people and events telling the

pern story on "american history tv. get our schedules and see past programs at our websites. and you can join in the conversation on social media sites. last year's japanese tsunami created tons of ocean debris that has now begun washing up on the u.s. shoreline. officials from the national oceanic and atmospheric administration and the coast guard testified about how their agencies are responding at this senate science committee hearing. this is just over an hour. >> we'll call the meeting to order. this is the subcommittee on oceans, atmosphere, fisheries and coast guard. today's hearing on stemming the tide of u.s. response to tsunami generated marine debris. we thank the witnesses for being here. welcome. we think an important hearing on the marine debris headed to the west coast from japanese

tragedy and its long-term implications. we welcome david m. kennedy of noaa's service. we welcome rear admiral cari thomas for the united states coast guard. thank you both for being here this morning. the earthquake and tsunami which struck northern japan just over a year ago was an unprecedented human tragedy. in minutes it claimed thousands of lives, destroyed communities and touched off the failure of a nuclear power plant. the tsunami left the legacy which our west coast states thousands of miles from that epicenter are dealing with now and will deal for many years to come. marine debris is nothing new. it has existed for centuries made worse by proliferation of plastics which don't degrade. to some, like beachcombers who find occasional messages in a bott bottle, it's a delight. to others it's an eyesore or worse. many now recognize marine debris

as a threat to fish, marine mammals and sea birds, through death by entanglement and indigestion. the tsunami unleashed debris on an unprecedented scale. some 5 million tons swept out to sea. while most quickly sank, noaa estimates 1.5 million tons of tsunami-generated debris is still afloat and being driven by winds and currents toward the west coast of north america. but there's 3 million pounds of mostly plastic trash which will flood into our inner tidal ecosystems and is already here. we've read the press reports of soccer balls found on the middleton island in my state and the fishing floats and styrofoam insulation washing up on kayak and montague islands. these are mostly the high windage item which float high in the water and are pushed by wind. then there's the ghost squid boat which appeared off the

southeast panhandle and was promptly sunk by the coast guard. i want to thank you, admiral, for doing that. evening the harley-davidson which washed up in british columbia. from alaska to washington the reports of tsunami debris are coming in. including reports of containers of hazardous materials such as oil and solvents. that's not surprising when you consider that entire cities, their gas stations, garages, warehouses, stores and industrial plants all washed into the sea and now becoming a threat to our shores. one of my constituents, chris polister of the gulf of alaska keeper has worked on marine debris issues for most of the last decade. he described the debris as a slow motion environmental disaster that will far exceed any single pollution event to hit the west coast of north america including "exxon valdez" and the santa barbara oil spills. i'm submitting his letter for

the record and one from the juneau-based marine conservation alliance foundation which has helped coordinate marine debris efforts in alaska for years. since the event, noaa's program has monitored the incoming tides of debris. they've modeled drift patterns and track reports as they come in. i know noaa has further plans to monitor this but my constituents to be honest with you are asking with this debris already here, what's the plan, how are we going to deal with this? and how are we going to clean it up? in some cases, some think it's a little late. now just this summer, but over the years this debris will be arriving to our shores. that is the purpose of today's hearing, give the debris -- give the clear threat what is our national plan to stem the tide of the tsunami debris. while i heard the debris carries no threat of radiation since it went out to sea before the reactors' failures, i want to ask what you know about the possible threat and monitoring

done to date because of its concern to many. i want to emphasize the point before i call in the ranking member and then senator from washington, we had a hearing probably two months, three months ago. this issue came up and we were told things are -- i don't want to say under control but we're monitoring it carefully. every time i go back to alaska, i hear over and over again, the large sightings and there are photos here of some of the debris that's starting to wash up. it's growing rapidly and almost seems like there is a, well, let's see what happens plan. that's not acceptable. especially today at 7:00 a.m. alaska time, the copper river opening will occur which means literally six hours later when that incredible fish gets caught, the salmon, it will be in the washington ports for market, the first fish out. so we fear what the impact may be so. we're anxious to hear not about

what you're seeing today but what are the plans, what are the efforts aggressively to deal with this issue as it continues to move forward. let me have the ranking member senator snowe make her comments. >> thank you, mr. chairman, and also for convening this hearing today to discuss this very important topic. marine debris resulting from last year's devastating earthquake and tsunami in japan. i think it is important to provide this kind of attention on and focus on this critical issue. on march 11, 2011, the island nation was struck by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake causing a tsunami that resulted in tremendous devastation as we all know killing nearly 16,000 with an additional 3,000 missing and presumed dead. over 200 square miles were inundated, some wavesw traveled six miles inland reaching a maximum height over 100 feet in places. entire communities were washed to sea. this disaster was far worse than

what had been previously been considered the worst case scenario. and japan should be commend for their effort they put in preparing for such a disaster. despite the tremendous loss of lives, countless people were saved by advance preparation. 28% of japan's coast was protected by sea walls and prompting warning of the major tsunami allowing time for many to evacuate. but the height of the tsunami is greater than thought possible. sea walls were built to hold the sea, they were breached and washed away. tragically at least 101 designated evacuation sites were flooded and people followed the evacuation orders and thought they had reached safety in time still perish. the devastation resulting from this demonstrates we can always do better to prepare. the harebreaking job of rebuilding from this tsunami still continues in japan and is estimated to cost more than $34 billion making this the most costly natural disaster in history. with some communities gone it's

not always clear how the rebuilding should begin. 5 million tons of debris were swept into the ocean as a result of the tsunami. much of this sank offshore but some of it, as much as 1.5 million tons, continue to float and was carried out to sea by the winds and currents. this debris includes boats, household goods, toys, everything from infrastructure to personal possessions. the first items to arrive in our waters were high windage items, those that float high enough in the water to be primarily blown by the wind. a recently updated model from noaa includes wind and current conditions from the past year suggests that tsunami debris likely began to arrive in the winter of 2011 to 2012. the first confirmed debris from the tsunami was identified on march 20th when 160-foot fishing boat was spotted off the coast of canada. recognizing that this ship posed a navigational hazard to mariners, the coast guard

sank it 17 days later. we do not actually know how much more debris is coming our way. nor do we know what will wash ashore. low windage items that are primarily moved by the ocean currents will take longer to reach our pacific coastline. it will be years before we know the extent of the debris. this will add to the already substantial burden that marine debris places on our oceans. along with my west coast colleagues whose states are now directly impacted by this event, i have long supported work that addresses the effects of marine debris on the health of our oceans. most recently last year i co-sponsored senator inouye's trash-free sea acts to reauthorize noaa's marine debris program and directed the agency to develop a plan on how best to respond to marine debris from the snaumtys, floods, landslides and hurricanes. and yet, despite the ongoing problem marine debris and the expected increase in marine debris from the japanese tsunami, the president's budget request proposed a reduction in

funding to this program. i'm pleased that the senate recognizes the importance of the marine debris program and would increase its funding by $400,000 for fiscal year 2013, providing the resources necessary to continue tracking and addressing the impact of the tsunami debris. i look forward to hearing from our witnesses today, learning more about this topic. david kennedy, i appreciate the excellent job you and your staff have conducted at the national ocean services. and keeping us up to date regarding the status of debris from the tsunami. admiral thomas, the coast guard is our first line of defense against this wave of debris coming toward our shores and i'm eager to hear more about the coast guard plans in addressing this consequential issue that has potentially safety and navigational hazards posed of serious nature by the tsunami debris. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you very much. let me turn to senator cantwell

and then we'll start with the hearing. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i want to thank you and the ranking member for holding this important hearing and, mr. chairman, for your continued focus on this. washington and alaska, i would say washington, alaska, oregon and california, hawaii, are all very united in our concern over the economic impacts that tsunami debris can have to our region. our state, washington state's coastal economy produces $10.8 billion in economic activity and it supports over 165,000 jobs. so anything that threatens that coastal economy is something we're going to pay a lot of attention to. so, we're here today to talk about how we're going to get a response from noaa on what is this threat, the measurement of the threat and what the response plan is to that threat. a few short weeks ago we marked the one-year anniversary of the devastating tsunami in japan. and the people of washington

state, because of our connection with japan, have a great sense of loss, and we remember those people who have lost their lives. seeing that devastation, when the waters rolled back and we saw what happened, shocked many people, not just in america but around the world. and so it has become very clear to us what unbelievable economic damage can happen and what can be at risk. so for our commercial and recreational fishing and our vessel construction of ships, our tourism, our thriving ecosystem, we all want to know what the plan is. so, mr. chairman, i feel like you do that we aren't getting the answers that we need. i would like to submit a statement from the mayor of the city of long beach. he reflects a unique and staggering concern about what tsunami debris can do to his community, and he wants to know what the plan is. mr. chairman, we also had in this just last few weeks an incident in washington state

where a crabber vessel was sunk and now oil leaking from that vessel is threatening the shellfish industry in our state. so it doesn't take a lot to imagine what would happen if the response plan is just we will sink it. we need something much more elaborate to understand and stop this debris before it actually reaches our shores. that's what we want to see and that's what we're hoping to get from a response plan today. it's very important that the resources are there to mobilize the emergency research funds from the rapid program, the national science foundation rapid program, which would give scientists the tools that they need to analyze and to tell us about this likely debris chart and where it will go and what areas it will impact. we also want to make sure that this science is available to other scientists in the northwest. it's almost as if there is an attitude that the tsunami debris

is top secret and we can't get the information. it shouldn't be this way. the information and data, the best guess scenario, should be available to everyone and all communities so that they can plan. we would hope that once that information is made available that that would be part of an action plan that then could be implemented by the coast guard, by noaa but certainly would give those communities this sense that they can plan for what this likely impact could be. we know that not every plan is going to be carried out in the detail that it was originally proposed. but having no plan or not understanding what the plan is, or just counseling people individually doesn't give the people of washington state the certainty and predictability they would like to see. many people said we wouldn't see any of this impact till 2013 or 2014. and now ships and motorcycle, and this various debris, is showing up and people want answers.

so mr. chairman, i look forward to the witnesses being here today. i know that they play a role and it's not -- it's not all on their shoulders. but we certainly, this senator, is going to continue to push until noaa responds in the appropriate way of giving our coastal communities the answers they deserve. i thank the chairman. >> thank you. let me start with our first witness mr. david kennedy, assistant administrator of national ocean science, oceanic and atmospheric administration known as noaa. please. >> thank you. chairman and members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to testify on the noaa marine debris program and its activities to address the marine debris by last year's tsunami. noaa is very concerned and taking active steps to address the threats tsunami debris pos to our communities. we're leading efforts with federal, state, and local partners to collect data, assess

the debris, and reduce possible impacts. i'd like to give you some background on the marine debris program, the federal government's lead own marine debris issues and highlight a few examples of how noaa is responding. the noaa marine debris program is small, but it has a big impact on a big problem. the world's oceans and shores are plagued by manmade debris that causes untold economic losses to coastal communities and threatens wildlife, habitat, human health, safety and navigation. the program of 13 staff conducts activities to research, prevent and reduce marine debris and its impacts. in addition to its science, outreach and education components, the program also spends a significant portion of its budget supporting long-term community-based removal projects. these projects benefit coastal habitats and waterways but they are not rapid response. the program which sits in noaa's office has historically received approximately $4 million in annual appropriations.

regional coordinators throughout country provide support to these projects and lend expertise to marine debris stakeholders in coastal states and territories. as chair of the inneragency coordinating committee, noaa works in partnership across federal agencies to assure coordination in national and international marine debris efforts. since the disaster struck japan, noaa's activities led by the marine debris program focused on understanding the scope of the threat to our coasts from tsunami-generated debris. noaa mobilized after the disaster to share the latest information on the threat and we are continuing to collect data on the debris quantity and type and location and movement. at the same time we're coordinating heavily with state and local response agencies to share information and draft response plans that will help reduce impacts to communities, natural resources and navigation. the government of japan has been referenced here before estimated that the tsunami swept 5 million

tons of debris into the ocean and 1.5 million tons of that floated. it is unclear how much of it and what type survived a year at sea, but we expect it could be buoyant items such as floats, lumber, plastics, containers and vessels. radiation experts assure us it is highly unlikely any debris is radioactive, but there is a possibility that hazardous items such as oil drums will wash ashore. the potential area where debris may have drifted in the north pacific ocean is vast. equalling a space roughly three times the size of the contiguous united states. in order to locate significant concentrations or large items we're gathering data from multiple sources, including ocean-going vessels, aircraft, and satellites. our models which have given us an understanding of where debris may be located today, help focus our detection and response decisions. noaa has asked groups that regularly have eyes on the water from commercial fishing

and shipping vessels, scientific expeditions and recreational pilots. the u.s. coast guard reports any sightings logged during regular enforcement overflight missions, and in some cases they've conducted flights with noaa representatives on board to help identify debris. we continue to receive and analyze high-resolution satellite imagery to find debris to find debris in targeted areas where our models suggest it may be located. we will continue to use sophisticated detection models as they become available to us. noaa is acquiring baseline information on marine debris that is currently stranded on u.s. coastlines in advance of the possible influx of tsunami debris. changes in volume and type of debris may be the only indication that tsunami debris has arrived, so noaa plans to conduct marine debris surveys in all impacted areas for the next two years. in order to gain a more complete picture of where debris is showing up, we have established an e-mail address where anyone, including the general public, may report sightings.

debris removal will likely fall to the states in most cases, and with tight budgets it is necessary to ensure that removal plans make the best use of existing resources. noaa is coordinating with state and local agencies to create plans which include rapid response protocols. workshops have taken place in hawaii and washington state. and the results will help guide workshops planned for alaska, oregon, and california. noaa will continue to pursue on the ground research, prevention, and reduction of marine debris nationwide and leverage every resource available to address debris from the japanese tsunami. however, comprehensively responding to the tsunami debris will take substantial resources. emergency trust funds exist, but currently there is not a fund for marine debris hazard response on this scale. so it's critical that we continue to have a complete engagement at every level -- federal, state, and local. it will not be possible for noaa to coordinate a debris response without each state's

participation. noaa is committed to protecting our communities from the impacts of debris and looks forward to working with the committee to achieve this outcome. i would also like to thank the committee for its attention to the marine debris problem and for its continued efforts to reauthorize the noaa marine debris program. thanks, and i'm willing to take questions. >> thank you very much. rear admiral cari thomas, director of response policy, u.s. coast guard. >> good morning. chairman begich, ranking member snowe, senator cantwell, i'm cari thomas. i'm delighted to be here on behalf of the u.s. coast guard. i'm pleased to have this opportunity to discuss with you the services roles and authorities it applies to protect the u.s. waters, shorelines and exclusive economic zone from the potential impacts of the marine debris created by the devastating 2011 japan tsunami. being responsible for response policy, my duties include overseeing incident management policies. in carrying out those duties, i draw upon my 14 different assignments where i was involved

with several types of incidents including hurricanes, ship groundings, airplane crashes, mass migrations and hundreds of search and rescue cases, some of which included marine debris. today i'll provide an overview of coast guard efforts related to marine debris, delineate the coast guard's role in supporting noaa and the inner agency and provide operational examples that address the need for advanced challenges caused by marine debris. as discussed by mr. kennedy, noaa is the lead agency for conducting research, monitoring prevention activities for marine debris. noaa's marine debris program leads this effort and noaa chairs the marine debris coordinating committee. the coast guard supports noaa by participating as a member of that committee. the marine debris research prevention reduction act of 2006 identifies the coast guard as an agency that noaa should coordinate with to address marine debris issues. to date, the coast guard has been fully engaged with noaa in support of marine debris monitoring and tracking to ensure the safe navigation of

shipping and to protect the marine environment. coast guard actions in support of noaa depend on the type of debris. the coast guard is the federal on-site coordinator for the coastal zone with lead removal actions under the national contingency plan for any debris that poses a threat via potential oil or hazardous substance to the environment. the coast guard may also develop and issue broadcast notice to mariners and advise vessel traffic of potential hazards to navigation. the service also has the authority to destroy these hazards for navigation to make sure that we're protecting lives and preserving property. if debris creates a hazardous navigation in channels, the coast guard typically works with the army corps of engineers, the lead federal agency for all obstructions determined to be in federally maintained navigable channels or waterway to address the matter. coast guard services and personnel may be requested by

noaa to help with identifying, tracking, monitoring debris by conducting overflights such as those over montague island with noaa representatives on board. the coast guard and noaa actively work and plan together at all levels at both agencies. at the national level, the coast guard participates in biweekly interagency conference calls hosted by noaa to provide strategic interagency coordination, awareness and information sharing. at the regional and local level, with the coast guard pacific area, the 13th district, the 14th district and the 17th district are all actively engaged with all partners. the coast guard and noaa recently coordinated ten interagency public meetings in oregon to provide information on agency authorities and capabilities. similar meetings are planned for hawaii and california, in coming months. we also participated in an interagency marine debris workshop in washington state to support washington state's drafting of a marine debris contingency plan. the coast guard's recent sinking of the derelict fishing vessel provides an excellent example of how we use our authorities and

assets to address the challenges associated with marine debris. several weeks ago, the service began tracking that fishing vessel which was originally sighted by the canadian coast guard. our airplane crews deployed marker buoys to track the vessel. we used information to notify mariners of the vessel's position via broadcast notice to mariners. the derelict vessel's path would take it near the dixon entrance a waterway where approximately 800 commercial transits, including tankers, occurred in the preceding six months. the location and condition and projected track made is a serious threat to the safe navigation of other vessels in the vicinity. the coast guard deemed the derelict vessel to be a hazard to navigation and on april 5th, the coast guard cutter "anna kappa" successfully sank the ship at sea to ensure the safety of navigation. having been the captain of a ship like "anna kappa" nearly 20 years ago, i was proud of their ability to perform this mission. as i tell others, we saved lives, the environment, and in

this case we saved the supply chain so vital to the economic strength of the nation that includes putting fuel and food on our tables. it could have been disrupted by the damage that that ship might have caused. coast guard will continue to work closely with noaa to address the potential navigation hazards of marine debris and respond to any substantial pollution threats or hazardous navigation. thank you, and i look forward to answering any questions you may have. >> thank you very much. we'll start with five-minute rounds. but the way i like to do the committee, each member will have an opportunity to do five minutes, but we sometimes will interject with each other because we're small enough here, but we only have a limited time today. let me first say my observation, then i have some specific questions. we're going to do a lot of planning, a lot of discussion, a lot of meetings. but what the reality is, communities are fearing that the federal government will not respond to what's really needed, which is cleanup.