News

January 21, 2010 - Press Release

Woods Hole Group Awarded Wellfleet’s Mayo Creek Restoration Project Contract

Woods Hole Group to study restoration options to restore tidal flow to creek

Falmouth, MA, January 21, 2010—Woods Hole Group, Inc. an international, environmental, scientific, and engineering consulting organization headquartered in Falmouth, has been awarded a contract by the Town of Wellfleet to support a project to restore tidal flow to Mayo Creek. The purposes of the project are to restore salt marsh habitat, improve water quality, and enhance drainage of the watershed. Woods Hole Group will conduct a hydraulic study and apply a computer model to optimize a project design to maximize environmental benefits.

“Woods Hole Group is happy to be part of the evaluation process for finding the best and most cost-efficient engineering solution to restore Mayo Creek,” said Bob Hamilton, Vice President for Business Development and Coastal Engineer at Woods Hole Group. “The Town of Wellfleet takes the protection of its waterways seriously, and restoring tidal flow to the creek is an important step to ensure its long-term health.”

Mayo Creek is connected to Wellfleet Harbor through an existing structure under Commercial Street that restricts tidal flow. Over the course of the contract, which runs until November 2010, Woods Hole Group will evaluate different restoration options, and make a recommendation for an improved connection to maximize tidal exchange to help restore the upstream salt marsh, while improving drainage. The project also will assess potential flooding of low lying infrastructure, and provide recommendations to restoring tidal flow to the maximum extent possible while avoiding adverse impacts.

In order to accomplish this Woods Hole Group will:

Review and take full advantage of existing data.
Apply a computer model to simulate flow to the marsh for existing conditions, and evaluate a suite of possible restoration alternatives, including potential water management devices
Develop computer-generated output to help stakeholders visualize and understand the project.
Deliver a final report, including a recommended alternative for restoring the salt marsh.

For more information, please contact Bob Hamilton at bhamilton@whgrp.com or (508) 540-8080.

Woods Hole Group is an international, environmental, scientific, and engineering consulting organization headquartered in Falmouth, Massachusetts. With its breadth of vision and emphasis on a sustainable future global environmental, Woods Hole Group provides premier integrated solutions to meet the challenge of environmental problems worldwide. As a leader in environmental sciences and engineering, Woods Hole Group’s expertise includes environmental impact and risk assessment, measurement systems for real-time operational guidance, oceanography, and coastal sciences, engineering and planning. Woods Hole Group was founded in 1986 by Dr. David Aubrey.

January 6, 2010

Woods Hole Landholdings (WHLH) has announced that it has equipped the headquarters of Woods Hole Group with a solar panel installation. The company has teamed up with Beaumont Solar for the renewable energy project. The installation has utilized solar panels from Sun Power. At present, the solar panels from Sun Power are the most efficient panels available on the global solar market. The office building is headquarters for the Woods Hole Group Inc. and its subsidiary, the Woods Hole Group Middle East. The solar power system has 176 panels and occupies approximately 2,400 square foot of space on the roof.

David Aubrey, owner of WHLH, said that the company has taken initiatives to help the country develop more sustainable and renewable energy by equipping its office building with the solar panel installation. He commented though the building was constructed with renewable energy component it its design ten years ago, the company was not able to finalize a contract for equipping it with solar power. Aubrey stated that with this installation, WHLH is helping the country to adopt sustainable business practices.

WHLH has taken advantage of a grant from the Federal government through the Stimulus Bill as well as a rebate from the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust to build the solar panel installation. Direct current will be generated by the solar photovoltaic panels by converting the solar radiation. The power generated from the system will meet up to 40% of the electricity requirements of the building. Within a period of five years, the total cost of the system will be paid back. WHLH is also adopting another energy saving initiative to save more than 50% of electricity used for lighting by upgrading its exterior as well as interior lighting systems. A similar solar project for its corporate offices is also recommended by Woods Hole Group, Middle East in collaboration with Beaumont Solar in Saudi Arabia.

(December 28, 2009 - Email from Robert Catalano)

Woods Hole Group has received the attached letter from Blue Ocean Energy commending Woods Hole Group on its safety record during the execution of the project.

The project spanned 14 months and covered multiple service trips on various vessels of opportunity - all without a safety incident.

The letter, while addressed to me, is really meant as an acknowledgement to everyone that participated on the project. I want to thank all of you for your efforts that contributed to the safe execution of the project.

In particular, I want to acknowledge and thank Dave Walsh and Dave Szabo who were responsible for preparing and implementing each of the safety plans for each of the cruises.

The brass compass paperweight, engraved with the Project name is in my office for anyone that wants to see the award.

Again - thank you to all who were part of this project.

Robert A. Catalano
Vice-President, Science Operations
Woods Hole Group, Inc.

As published in the Cape Cod Times on November 20, 2009:

"The Woods Hole Group in Falmouth has added four employees to its staff.

Kaitlyn McCartney is a coastal engineer who recently earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical and ocean
engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she was a research and teaching assistant.

David Bailey is a field technician who was formerly a fisheries observer at A.I.S. Inc. in New Bedford.

Todd Morrison of Falmouth is a senior ocean engineer with more than 25 years of experience, including as the
vice president of engineering for Nobska Development. Among his many degrees, he has a doctorate in
oceanographic engineering from MIT.

Joseph Famely is a coastal scientist who recently earned a master of environmental management degree from
the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. He worked this past summer as an environmental impact
assessment consultant for Hudson River Valley Resorts." link to the story

A feature article (which was developed cooperatively between Woods Hole Group and NOAA) about Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System (PORTS) appeared in the May 2009 edition of Hydro International magazine. link to the story

Dr. Lee Weishar one of three new directors named to American Shore and Beach Preservation Association (ASBPA). link to the story