ENVIRONMENTAL

Waste Management in Rural Alaska

Building waste management systems for healthier communities

By Isaac Stone Simonelli

The rapidly warming climate is having negative impacts on rural communities in Alaska, where there are already significant barriers to creating the necessary infrastructure for solid waste and sewage management.

“Negative ‘norms’ have been occurring over decades in communities that still struggle with lack of basic sanitation services [in more than thirty villages in Alaska],” explains Jackie Qataliña Schaeffer, the senior project manager of Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium’s (ANTHC) Division of Environmental Health and Engineering. “The impacts of climate change only compound the inadequate housing, aging infrastructure, and lack of basic services, which in turn affects all aspects of human health in indigenous communities.”

According to ANTHC Director of Community Environmental Health Michael Brubaker, “In many communities, changes in the land caused by thawing or flooding has resulted in impacts to critical infrastructure, such as foundations,

An Ahtna crew backfills around a 1,000 gallon insulated septic tank on the ANTHC Koyukuk sewer and water project.

Ahtna Environmental, Inc.

containment walls, fences, pipelines, and roads. This results in damage and disruptions of service and in some cases breaches and spills.

“Extreme rain events can cause ponds and other containments to flood. There are also upstream impacts such as a longer season when the liquid waste is not frozen, and thus more likely to spill, or mid-winter warm spells which can cause stored waste to thaw, leak, or spill. In some cases,

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The distances that folks need to travel ... to get a jug of water, it’s pretty far. So having water in the house is just going to be an astronomical increase in the quality of life.”

Andy DuComb Environmental Engineer, Ahtna Environmental A newly installed bathroom on the ANTHC Levelock sewer and water project.

Ahtna Environmental, Inc.

communities are having to abandon or relocate waste disposal facilities.”

Newtok

Changing shorelines in places such as Newtok only accentuate the problems surrounding harsh weather conditions and rugged terrain that are already obstacles to developing waste systems. By Janis Plume Senior Account Manager

Okay, I get it. You are busy. You own a business and your days are filled with serving your customers; striving to keep them happy and coming back. You’re hard at work making sure your employees are productive and happy, and, of course, you’re focused on the bottom line. Where’s the time to even think about advertising?

First, take time to read that email from me— the one with something like “Advertising Opportunity in Alaska

“Because the riverbanks are eroding and sloughing off into the water, it's making it difficult to land a barge there,” Ahtna Global Director of Construction Ronald DesGranges says. “Getting equipment in there and containers to package the waste is difficult.”

In October, DesGranges’ team finished staging a Newtok project to remove solid waste from the site as Business” in the subject line. Or open the one labeled “Alaska Business 2021 Media Kit Attached.” In my work at Alaska Business I get to have day-to-day connections with business people and help them with advertising solutions. We offer advertising solutions in Alaska’s premier monthly business publication (print and digital), in our weekly Alaska Business Monitor newsletter, and on our website — it’s all in that media kit! My ego isn’t so inflated that I think I’m a one man show. I couldn’t get this job done without a great team. Talented designers that make us look good and the clients look great. A management team ready with good, orderly direction and access to information to help me work smarter. Rounding it out is a great editorial team hard at work researching, interviewing, and writing useful local business insights. the village continues preparations to relocate to Mertarvik.

Since 1994, residents of Newtok have been working toward leaving the slowmoving disaster zone—dozens of feet of the community’s shoreline are being lost every year to erosion. DesGranges says his team has already demolished several structures in the community

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that were hanging over the bank into A look at any issue of Alaska Business will prove that.

If you haven’t answered my calls or replied to my emails you may be asking, “Why does he do this?” Simple answer… I like to help businesses succeed! The next time you see an email from janis@akbizmag.com or get a call from (907) 257-2917, consider taking a minute to respond. It might lead to an opportunity to invest in and grow your business through a beneficial change in your marketing strategy.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Janis J. Plume Senior Account Manager Alaska Business Publishing Co. 907-257-2917 janis@akbizmag.com