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P E N I N S U L A
Friday-Saturday, November 2-3, 2018 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 49, Issue 29
In the news Marathon Petroleum acquires outstanding shares of Andeavor KENAI — Marathon Petroleum Corp. says it has finished acquiring all outstanding shares of Andeavor, the company formerly known as Tesoro. Kenai radio station KSRM reports Marathon and Andeavor in April entered into a $23.3 billion merger agreement. Andeavor operates refineries in California, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington and Alaska. Andeavor’s Kenai Refinery processes up to 72,000 barrels of oil per day. The refinery has 225 full time employees on staff. Marathon acquired the Kenai Refinery in the merger. The refinery produces gasoline, jet fuel, diesel fuel, heating oil and heavy fuel oils, propane and asphalt. The refinery receives crude oil double-hulled tankers through Cook Inlet and by pipeline from the Kenai Peninsula and Cook Inlet.
Alaska marijuana tax revenue remains above $1M in September JUNEAU — Marijuana tax collections in Alaska dipped slightly in September but still totaled about $1.5 million. Figures released by the state Revenue Department Thursday show tax revenue of $1.48 million in September, compared to $1.54 million in August, which remains the high. Cultivators pay the tax, which is imposed when marijuana is sold or transferred from a licensed grow facility to a retail marijuana shop or product manufacturing facility. The state says monthly tax revenue fell below $1 million in just one month this year. — Associated Press
Correction District O write-in candidate Ron Gillham’s name was misspelled in Thursday’s story profiling District O writein candidate Willow King. We apologize for the error.
Index Opinion................... A4 Religion................... A5 Sports......................A7 Classifieds.............. A9 Comics.................. A14
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District begins budget talks Anchor
Point oil, gas leases possible
By VICTORIA PETERSEN Peninsula Clarion
The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District is already breaking ground on their upcoming budget development — and is getting the community involved. Superintendent Sean Dusek and Assistant Superintendent Dave Jones spoke schools across the district via a live teleconference Tuesday evening. The meeting was open to staff, parents and anyone in the public interested in getting involved. Dusek and Jones outlined how the district budget works, budget development processes and areas of financial concern. The district has two major sources of revenue coming from the borough and the state. Jones said in the fiscal year 2018, the district received 35.75 percent of their revenue from the borough and 63.24 percent from the state. The rest of the revenue, just over 1 percent, comes from federal sources and other means. Enrollment has been con-
By VICTORIA PETERSEN Peninsula Clarion MICHAEL ARMSTRONG Homer News
Parents, teachers, staff and concerned public gather at the Kenai Central High School library to listen to Superintendent Sean Dusek and Assistant Superintendent Dave Jones discuss the future Kenai Peninsula Borough School District budget on Tuesday in Kenai. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)
sistently declining since 2010, Dusek said during the video presentation. “Enrollment is the cornerstone of funding for our budget,” he said.
As of Oct. 1, the district serves approximately 8,644 students, not counting parttime students. With fewer students enrolled, the district could receive less funding from
the state in the future. Dusek said the district is noticing more and more students choosing to be homeschooled, either through the See SCHOOL, page A2
Analysis: How mines would be permitted under Ballot Measure 1 By KEVIN GULLUFSEN Juneau Empire
Ballot Measure 1 provides for building on fish habitat in Alaska in three tracks: major, minor and general permits. The measure will appear on the statewide ballot Nov. 6, and changes how the Alaska permits everything from ATV stream crossing to mines. In the third part of a series looking at the measure’s legal language, the Juneau Empire is parsing the most controversial permitting process: major permits. A major permit would apply to construction or water use with the potential to s ignificantly affect fish habitat. Any development that has the potential to harm salmon would trigger a major permit. This permitting track would apply to most large projects on fish habitat in Alaska. Things like boat launches, ATV stream crossing and recreational suction dredging would
A male pink salmon fights its way up stream to spawn in a Southeast Alaska. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)
likely receive a general permit. We covered those in Sunday’s Empire. Minor permits would apply to things like private docks and tem-
porary water use. An article in the types of projects would get them? Thursday edition of the Clarion Alaska law already requires covered those. what’s called a Fish Habitat PerSo what’s the process for re- mit for building on anadromous See MINE, page A13 ceiving a major permit and what
Legislature’s new ethics law extends to private discussions By JAMES BROOKS Juneau Empire
Alaska lawmakers passed a tougher ethics law than they thought. In a meeting Thursday afternoon, the Legislature’s select committee on legislative ethics approved a legal opinion that says a new conflict-of-interest law covers discussions behind closed doors, not just public debate. The vote was 8-1, with Rep. Lora Reinbold, R-Eagle River, in opposition. “I just think this is going to put the entire legislative body in knots,” Reinbold said. This spring, lawmakers voted 24-15 in the House and 13-6
in the Senate to approve House Bill 44 from Rep. Jason Grenn, I-Anchorage. The bill requires lawmakers to declare if they or their families are financially affected by legislation under discussion. The conflict has to be worth at least $10,000. That conflict must be revealed in committee discussions, and if the legislation comes to the floor of the House or Senate, the lawmaker has to declare a conflict there and request to be excused from voting. Their fellow lawmakers can force them to vote anyway — in the Senate, the objection of Members of the House Majority Caucus speak to each other at only one lawmaker is needed to the Capitol on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2018. Next year, lawmakers force them to vote. will be required to operate under a new conflict-of-interest law. See LAW, page A3 (Michael Penn/Juneau Empire file)
Lower Kenai Peninsula residents have a chance to learn about proposed oil and gas leases on Kenai Peninsula Borough land in the Anchor Point area at an upcoming Anchor Point Advisory Planning Commission meeting At the Oct. 23 Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly meeting, the assembly introduced an ordinance to lease parcels in the Anchor Point area to Hilcorp for oil and gas subsurface rights. Assembly member Willy Dunne, who represents Anchor Point and other parts of the lower Kenai Peninsula, pulled the ordinance from the consent agenda for further discussion. It will be on the table for discussion at Anchor Point’s planning commission meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 7, at the Anchor Point Chamber of Commerce. Ordinance 2018-34 would lease oil and gas rights at a minimum 12.5 percent royalty. One of the lease sites is near Chapman Elementary School on land now used as a solid waste and recycling transfer site. Called the Sea View Pad, the proposed Hilcorp well site is on land off the Old Sterling Highway. “I wanted to let folks know, especially folks down in the Anchor Point area, that there is borough code that requires that leases such as this would not include surface entry,” Dunne said at the meeting. “It’s sub surface only, even though the lease language does make reference to surface activities. One of the concerns I heard from people was that perhaps we need to negotiate a better deal on this.” In a follow-up interview, Dunne said borough Mayor Charlie Pierce told him he would like to negotiate a better royalty percentage. Dunne said he’s received See LEASE, page A3
State offers drinking water after toxic substance found JUNEAU (AP) — The state is offering safe drinking water to households in a southeast Alaska town after a toxic substance was discovered in groundwater. A dozen private wells in Gustavus qualified to receive shipped-in jugs of water from the state following the discovery of a chemical compound known as PFAS, Alaska’s Energy Desk reported Wednesday. The substance is found in See WATER, page A2