2006 Press Releases
AUTEC hosts outreach meeting for Andros residents
August 18, 2006
Officials at the Atlantic Undersea Testing and Evaluation Center, (AUTEC) located on Andros Island hosted a public information fair for residents of the island on Thursday, August 10 at the Lighthouse Club in Fresh Creek. The event was designed to give residents and activists a transparent view of AUTEC and the opportunity to learn more about AUTEC’s role in the community, and the various environmental and marine programs in which the facility is involved.
Among the experts made available at the meeting included Marc Ciminello (Environmental Director), Tom Szlyk (Coral Reefs), David Moretti (Marine Mammal Scientist), and Tim Legel, (Vice President, CSC Applied Technologies Division, LLC, AUTEC Program Manager). Additionally, the meeting provided an informational poster board display on various topics (Command Mission, Economic Impact, Community Service, Environmental Program, Coral Reef Protection, Marine Mammal Program) that were mounted at various stations and staffed by subject matter experts who were able to answer residents' questions and concerns as they made their way through the room. Some 30-40 local residents attended the successful meeting including the Island Administrator, and the senior police officer for Central Andros.
The Information Fair marked the third in a series of outreach meetings organized by AUTEC and the United States Embassy to increase transparency about the AUTEC operations and to demonstrate the sensitive environmental programs in place at the facility. In April of this year Dr. Brent Hardt, Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy spearheaded a fact-finding team to the base that included Minister of Energy and the Environment, Dr. Marcus Bethel and Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Marine Resources, the Hon. Leslie Miller. In June, AUTEC held a follow-up meeting at the base open to all media.