Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge

Project Titles:

Replace Photovoltaic System at Laysan Island (FFS #R1GC)
Replace Housing at Laysan Island (FFS #R1GD)

State: Hawaii

Initial Project Description: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, an agency of the Department of the Interior, has awarded two contracts totaling $306,424 under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to Northern Management Services, a maintenance and general contracting company based in Sandpoint, Idaho. The projects will employ eight workers.

The company will install a modern solar panel array at the Laysan Island research facility located within Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument and replace the deteriorating living quarters tents. The new solar array will be used to power systems critical to researcher survival, leaving the existing system for secondary power needs.

“We are more than 800 miles from Honolulu, and these systems are absolutely vital to our survival,” Laysan Island project lead and Biological Science Technician Cindy Rehkemper said. “The extreme weather at Laysan Island makes these systems very difficult to maintain, and we have been fortunate they have lasted as long as they have.”

“We have extensive experience with these types of projects, and this ARRA funded project keeps us going,” Northern Management Services project leader Bert Wallace said. “Work is work, and we are in the business of building stuff.”

“These projects are aimed at maintaining and sustaining the important work done by the Fish and Wildlife Service scientists in the remote Pacific Ocean,” Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said. “This funding will improve working conditions and decrease the inherent dangers of working at a facility such as Laysan Island.”

October 2010 Project Update: The Laysan Island ARRA project has been completed successfully. The new photovoltaic system (PVS) provides enough power to run all of the equipment in camp, resolving all the concerns with communication equipment problems, refrigerator and freezer problems, and water pump problems. This successful project completion will increase the capability of the crew to propagate native plants, control invasive species, and survey migratory and endangered birds.

Photos:


The meter for the solar panel system which will be installed in the communications tent. In the background are charge controllers and a 2,000-watt power inverter/charger.	The solar panel array under construction prior to delivery and setup to Laysan Island.
Workers load the sealed crates onto the transport ship for final distribution to Laysan Island.	Workers load the sealed crates onto the transport ship for final distribution to Laysan Island.
Workers load the sealed crates onto the transport ship for final distribution to Laysan Island.
The new housing at Laysan Island is completed.	The new photovoltaic system is now installed.