Oregon Public Broadcasting

Coastal residents and Oregon politicians are celebrating Tuesday, after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration chose Newport as the new location for its research ships. 

Yaquina Bay at Newport

What's called the Pacific Marine Operations Center is home to four ships that study the sea and the atmosphere. 

The operation employs 175 people.  Many more jobs will result from construction work to be done at the site. 

The deal means a huge boost for an economy that's been dragged down by curtailed fishing and the recession in general. 

Betsy Johnson is a state senator from the Oregon Coast. She says NOAA's move will have an enormous impact not only in  Newport - but also for her constituents to the north.

Betsy Johnson: "It fundamentally will change the Central Coast, and I think it will have ripple impacts up and down the coast. This moves a number of vessels, 175 jobs, families moving in, high-wage professional jobs. It will be such a nice complement to the Hatfield Marine Sciences and all the other research going on there. This will simply be transformational for the central coast."

But jobs gained in Newport mean a net loss for Puget Sound. 

Washington Senator Maria Cantwell chairs a subcommittee that oversees NOAA. She's asking the agency to reconsider the decision.

Cantwell's spokeswoman Ciaran Clayton says the senator's worried about disruption to scientific projects and scientists' lives.

Ciaran Clayton "There's the potential a lot of those folks aren't going to be able to make the commute down to Oregon or to move. So there are some folks who will probably matriculate out of those current positions. We have estimates that the potential economic impact to the area is going to be around $180 million."

Newport beat out Seattle, Bellingham and Port Angeles for the valuable operation. Seattle officials complained about the subsidies Oregon offered.