December 15, 2004
UW opens office to foster communications on underground lab proposal
The University of Washington has established a special office to support further development of the Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory-Cascades.
The office will be responsible for educational partnerships, permitting, environmental protection, architectural services, economic profiling and intergovernmental coordination relating to the underground lab proposal. A primary mission will be to strengthen outreach efforts in Washington state, particularly to residents of Chelan County and the Leavenworth area.
Marilyn Cox, the UW director of capital planning, will head the Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory-Cascades Office. The office will provide up-to-date project information and will handle questions and comments from the community about the proposal.
“One of our long-term goals is to form strong partnerships with local, state and regional groups to ensure that the laboratory proposal enhances scientific, educational and economic opportunities for the area’s citizens,” Cox said.
She said the office is being created now to ensure that dialog begun by the Port of Chelan’s Citizens Advisory Committee will continue.
Last week the committee presented its final report and recommendations to port commissioners. The report addresses community issues and concerns and also identifies regional interests related to the proposed project in environmental protection, economic development, education and the project’s scope and management. It also discusses the Leavenworth community’s interests and recommends ways of achieving those interests if the underground lab is built in the area.
For nearly four years, a group of the nation’s leading physicists, led by UW scientists, has advocated creation of a national underground science and engineering laboratory. A primary goal is for the next generation of science experiments that require a deep-underground environment to be carried out in the United States rather than in another country.
For more than a year, UW scientists have been talking with the national science community and Chelan County residents about a proposal to place the lab beneath the Cascades near Leavenworth. That proposal, which will be submitted to the National Science Foundation early next year, holds exceptional potential to create new knowledge, to enhance educational opportunities for Washington students and produce new technologies that will physically and economically benefit the state and nation, Cox said.
Contact information for the new UW underground lab office is:
DUSEL-Cascades Office
University of Washington
Box 351273
Seattle WA 98195-1273
Phone: (206) 897-1755
Fax: (206) 685-9210
Email: duselc@u.washington.edu
On the Internet, see http://www.int.washington.edu/DUSEL/cascades.html
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