Merry Petrossian (top left) and her staff at the USS Arizona Memorial, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Back to Chapter 4: Resource Risks
River management and the Upper Colorado River Recovery Implementation Program
By John Wullschleger
Mysterious tadpole die-off in Whiskeytown
By Jennifer Gibson
Water quality–monitoring partnership on the Pedernales
By John Tiff and Brian Carey
Calling for stronger fossil resource protection: A report to Congress
By Julia Brunner and Lindsay McClelland
Off-road vehicles in Big Cypress to be managed in consideration of natural resources
By Robert V. Sobczak and Antonio J. Pernas
Change in status of lynx and black-tailed prairie dog
Virus responsible for amphibian deaths in parks
Exotic invertebrates spread
Ozone standards exceeded in parks
Home
 |
|||||
| |
Merry Petrossian, Facility Manager, USS Arizona Memorial, Hawaii, received the 1999 Director’s Award for Excellence in Natural Resource Stewardship Through Maintenance. Merry has ensured that the memorial’s Maintenance Division develops designs with resource stewardship as the primary outcome. Among the projects completed under her leadership were replacement of the worn visitor center teak deck with recycled material and installation of solar-powered lights in the parking lots. Merry also was instrumental in finding a solution to a major shoreline erosion issue and in developing an oil spill contingency plan for the park. In 1996, Chevron spilled 40,000 gallons (151,400 liters) of oil into Pearl Harbor. The cleanup involved the placement of absorbent but abrasive booms and repeated high-pressure washing of the shoreline to remove the oil. This activity accelerated shoreline erosion at the park visitor center and also resulted in loss of the native naupaka (Scaevola sericea) shrubbery that protected the shoreline. High tides and heavy rainfall also destabilized and eroded shoreline soils. Merry acted quickly and designed a temporary sandbag system to stop the erosion; later she developed a new riprap system to prevent future erosion. The new system, funded through a 1999 settlement with Chevron under the damage assessment procedures of the Oil Pollution Act, was based on her input and knowledge of Pearl Harbor tides and currents. It incorporated the remaining concrete pilings and slabs and used naupaka and bougainvillea plants at the upper edge of the riprap to keep visitors away from the drop-off. The plantings require little maintenance and thrive in saltwater areas. The erosion prevention system is successful and the U.S. Navy now uses this design along its shorefront area adjacent to the USS Arizona Memorial property. Merry believes that resource management is an important part of her job. “I never think when I’m undertaking a task ... ‘How can I protect the natural or cultural aspects?...’ In this cultural park I do alot of natural resource management... I’m natural, cultural, and a little bit rock-and-roll maintence.” |
|
 |
||
This material is from Natural Resource Year in Review--2000, published by the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, in May 2000 (publication D-1459)
/YearInReview/yir/yir2000/pages/04_resource_risks/04_09_sidebar_petrossian.html
Last Updated: 06/17/2001
Direct comments on this website to jeff_selleck@nps.gov