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P E N I N S U L A
Tuesday, March 26, 2019 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 49, Issue 150
In the news EPA administrator recuses himself from Pebble Mine decisions JUNEAU — The head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says he is recusing himself from decisions related to the proposed Pebble Mine in Southwest Alaska. Andrew Wheeler, in a memo, says his former employer provided services to a client related to the Pebble project. His memo doesn’t provide details on that but Wheeler, a former lobbyist, says he wasn’t personally involved. Still, he says he’s voluntarily recusing himself from matters related to the project during his EPA tenure, including any associated litigation, settlement agreement and permitting. The Pebble Limited Partnership wants to develop a copper and gold mine in Alaska’s Bristol Bay region. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is evaluating a permit application by the project, one of dozens of permits, approvals and authorizations Pebble says it will need.
$1 newsstands daily/$1.50 Sunday
Residents pack House Finance meeting Groups:
EPA has dragged heels on oil dispersant rules
By VICTORIA PETERSEN Peninsula Clarion
More than 100 residents gathered in the conference room at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex Saturday night to share their thoughts on the governor’s budget. Rep. Gary Knopp, RKenai/Soldotna, House Speaker Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, and ViceChair of the House Finance Committee Janice Johnston, R-Anchorage, heard testimony at the event, which was part of a series of community meetings the House Finance Committee is holding across the state to get feedback on the budSee HOUSE, page A11
By JANET McCONNAUGHEY Associated Press
Leslie Rohr from Love INC speaks to House Finance Committee members in opposition to cuts to programs that serve vulnerable Alaskans on Saturday at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)
Game board votes against bear hunting rule changes KODIAK — The Alaska Board of Game has voted against changes to bear hunting regulations. The Kodiak Daily Mirror reported Monday that the board voted down proposals that would have drastically changed the rules for hunting Kodiak brown bears during a meeting in Anchorage. The newspaper says the board considered 18 proposals for regulation changes in the Kodiak region and voted against all but four, including a rule to reserve at least 90 percent of brown bear permits for Alaska residents. A board member says several of the proposed rule changes would have placed limits on the number of permits allocated to hunters who are not residents of Alaska, but they were all voted down. The official says three of the proposals the board passed related to goat hunting. — Associated Press
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Speaking out Protesters advocating against Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s proposed cuts to public education line up outside the gate of the Cannery Lodge in Kenai ahead of a forum hosted by the governor Monday. Dunleavy, who is traveling to communities across the state to discuss his proposed budget, made his first stop in Kenai. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)
NEW ORLEANS — Environmental groups and women from Alaska and Louisiana say the Environmental Protection Agency has dragged its heels on issuing rules for oil spill dispersants, and they’re ready to sue to demand them. They say dispersants such as Corexit, used during the Exxon Valdez and BP oil spills, were more toxic to people and the environment than oil alone but, nearly four years after taking public comments about such rules, the agency hasn’t acted. “We depend on feeding our families from the ocean. We need the ocean to be a clean environment for our animals,” Rosemary Ahtuangaruak, a plaintiff from Alaska, said in a telephone interview. With the Trump administration considering an oil and gas lease sale in Alaska’s Beaufort Sea, she said, people fear both spills and dispersants. The EPA said it is reviewing a letter sent Monday to Administrator Andrew Wheeler, saying the people and groups will sue unless the agency acts within 60 days. The letter is a legally required step before filing suit under the Clean Water Act. This lawsuit would be filed in Washington, said Jack Siddoway, a third-year law student in the UniverSee EPA, page A2
Chief justice defends judicial nominating process By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press
JUNEAU — Founders of the state’s constitution intended for a governor to appoint for judgeships candidates nominated by
the Alaska Judicial Council, the chief justice of the Alaska Supreme Court said. Chief Justice Joel Bolger, in recent remarks, defended the council’s process for vetting and
nominating candidates after Gov. Mike Dunleavy filled one vacancy on the Palmer Superior Court but refused to fill another. One of the seats is vacant. The second is soon to be.
Dunleavy, in a letter to the council last week, said he would not be making a second appointment from a list of three finalists the council sent him. He said there were qualified applicants “inexplicably” not
nominated and requested the council’s reasoning. Dunleavy spokesman Matt Shuckerow said the governor looks forward to scheduling a meeting with Bolger to further discuss See CHIEF, page A2
Tuition assistance for med students could be cut By MOLLIE BARNES Juneau Empire
Gov. Mike Dunleavy has proposed cutting about $3.1 million in state funding for a program that trains medical students for service in
the state. The acronym for the program, WWAMI, stands for the states served by the UW School of Medicine: Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho. The University of Alaska An-
chorage participates in this program. If the contract with the state is dropped, Alaska would be the only state in the country to not provide state assistance for medical education, according to a Monday morning
Men’s recovery home opens By BRIAN MAZUREK Peninsula Clarion
Freedom House celebrated the opening of its men’s long-term recovery residence on Sunday, and the community came out in droves to join in the celebration. Approximately 250 people turned out to show their support, according to organizers. Throughout the day people gathered to See MEN’S, page A3
Senate Finance committee presentation. “If we do not continue forward with our contract with the state of Alaska … students will finish the program and we will just not recruit additional classes,”
See MED, page A11
Senate approves fasttracked disaster relief funds By MOLLIE BARNES Juneau Empire
Community members show their support for the opening of Freedom House’s men’s residence in Soldotna, on Sunday. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)
said Suzanne Allen, Vice Dean for Regional Affairs for the University of Washington School of Medicine in a Senate Finance committee meeting Monday morning.
The Senate unanimously approved to fasttrack disaster relief funds to assist in damages from the Nov. 30 earthquake in Southcentral Alaska. Committee Substitute Senate Bill 38, a supplemental budget bill for fiscal year 2019, passed 18-0 in the floor session. “The monies in response to that (earthquake) damage appear to run out around the first of April,
so this is a time sensitive issue,” Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, the chair of the Senate Finance committee, said during the floor session. This bill is what they call a fast-tracked supplemental bill, Stedman said. This is necessary to get funds out faster for earthquake relief from the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that happened a few months ago near Anchorage. This disaster relief bill would provide a $6.5 milSee FAST, page A11