Feds cancel plan to rip out ocean monitoring system after backlash
The proposed dismantling was "supreme stupidity," said Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon.
WASHINGTON – The Trump administration has reversed course on a controversial plan to remove four of five ocean monitoring arrays from the Pacific and Atlantic after meeting intense opposition from members of Congress, researchers and ocean advocacy groups.
"Effective immediately, NSF will not proceed with further removal or descoping of equipment from the remaining arrays and will continue operations including planned maintenance," the National Science Foundation said in a statement. An array pulled from the coastal waters off Oregon earlier in June will be redeployed after servicing, the agency said.
The plan to dismantle most of the Ocean Observatories Initiative, which had served less than half its intended lifespan, drew widespread criticism.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who helped lead a bipartisan group of senators that urged the reversal, called the decision to leave the arrays in place "a massive win for coastal communities and fishermen around the country."
Just a day earlier, Murkowski and Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, won unanimous support from the Senate for a two-page bill that stated no federal funds should be used to decommission the system until after a "thorough review and assessment."
“The data accessed through OOI is a game changer for so many, and I’m immensely grateful that NSF listened to our calls," Murkowski said in a statement. "Today we saw the federal process at work – with Congress advocating and the Executive taking decisive action."
The ocean initiative went online in 2016 at a cost of more than $360 million. The arrays monitor ocean conditions, track marine heatwaves and collect data on how the ocean influences hurricanes and other events.
The foundation now plans to convene an expert panel to review operational and data needs to help identify "a sustainable path" for the agency's ocean observation systems. A 2025 report from the National Academies of Sciences Engineering and Medicine recommended a similar panel to address any concerns about the array, which costs an estimated $40 million or more to maintain.
Opponents also raised concerns that removing the instrument network would undermine the nation's efforts to monitor fisheries and climate patterns, such as the strengthening El Niño in the Pacific Ocean.
"Dismantling the OOI was supreme stupidity," Merkley said in a statement. "We’ll keep fighting to ensure scientists, fishermen, and coastal communities can continue to utilize the critical data the OOI provides.”
Dinah Voyles Pulver and Zachary Schermele are correspondents with USA TODAY. Pulver covers climate change, weather, and other news and is the author of the Climate Point newsletter. Reach her at [email protected]. Schermele is the congressional correspondent and can be reached at [email protected].