Interior Secretary Salazar at UMaine Thursday

Ken Salazar
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar will be at the University of Maine on Thursday, Aug. 18 from approximately 1:45-3:15 p.m.

Salazar, a former Democratic U.S. Senator from Colorado who has been a member of the Obama cabinet since January, 2009, will be in Maine for a series of meetings arranged by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine). At UMaine, he will tour the Advanced Structures and Composites Center to learn more about the UMaine-led DeepCWind Consortium and its work toward developing technology to harness deepwater offshore wind as a source of renewable power.

Accompanied by Collins, Salazar will arrive at UMaine at 1:45 p.m. Prof. Habib Dagher, director of the UMaine center and the DeepCWind Consortium, will conduct a 40-minute tour of the laboratory facility.  Dagher will describe several elements of the work, including scale model testing, plans for next summer’s deployment of a test turbine, environmental monitoring work and permitting. Ken Fletcher, director of Maine’s Office of Energy Independence, will also participate in the tour.

The tour will conclude at 2:30 p.m., giving journalists an opportunity to set up for a brief speaking event scheduled to begin shortly before 3. Salazar, Collins, Dagher and UMaine President Paul Ferguson will all offer brief comments.

Aug. 16, 2011
Contact: Joe Carr (joe.carr@umit.maine.edu)
(207) 581-3571