Y
K
Play on
Swish
Ariz. students’ play to go off-Broadway
NCAA bracket announced
Schools/B-1
Sports/A-8
CLARION
Some snow 35/18 More weather on Page A-2
P E N I N S U L A
MONDAY, MARCH 17, 2014 Soldotna-Kenai, Alaska
Vol. 44, Issue 142
50 cents newsstands daily/$1.00 Sunday
TAPS owners take series of setbacks in court
Question Will the EPA’s move to preemptively block the Pebble Mine discourage other industrial development in the state? n Yes; or n No. To place your vote and comment, visit our Web site at www. peninsulaclarion. com. Results and selected comments will be posted each Tuesday in the Clarion, and a new question will be asked. Suggested questions may be submitted online or e-mailed to news@peninsulaclarion.com.
By TIM BRADNER Morris News Service-Alaska Alaska Journal of Commerce
Things have not gone well for Trans-Alaska Pipeline System owners in the courts and key federal regulatory arenas in recent weeks, but the battles aren’t over. First, on the state level, Alaska’s Supreme Court upheld a $9.98 billion valuation of the pipeline for property tax purposes on Feb. 21, more than ten times the $800 million figure the pipeline owners originally sought. Second, in Washington, D.C., an administrative law judge with the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, issued a ruling Feb. 28 disallowing several hundred millions of dollars of investments in TAPS pump station upgrades, although the ruling will be contested and the full commission has yet to issue a decision. The TAPS owners, which include BP, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and minority owners Koch Industries and Unocal (now Chevron), had filed tariffs that included the expenses for 2009 and 2010. The State of Alaska and Tesoro, who ships oil through TAPS but is not an owner, contested the tariffs. The TAPS owners had asked for $454.4 million in capital costs to be included in the tariff rate base for the two years, but FERC Administrative Law Judge Carmen Ana Cintron ordered that $397.1 million should be excluded, and approved only $57.3 million of what was requested. Cintron agreed with the state and Tesoro that the pipeline pump station upgrade project had not been managed well, and the owners had failed to prove the expenses were prudent. On the property tax case, the state high court’s ruling, on
In the news No tsunami threat detected from large Chile earthquakes
M K
LOS ANGELES — The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center says it does not see a threat of powerful waves along the coasts of California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska or Hawaii due to a powerful earthquake off South America. Two earthquakes struck off Chile’s Pacific coast Sunday afternoon, with the U.S. Geological Survey reporting the first, larger one at preliminary magnitude of 7.0. Chilean authorities called for a precautionary evacuation along a stretch of shoreline. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center later said there did not appear to be a threat of a destructive Pacific-wide tsunami.
Photos by Rashah McChesney/Peninsula Clarion
Above: Abby Ala, owner of Ridgeway Farms in Kenai, works in her polyculture getting plants ready to move into the two high tunnels she uses on her farm. Ala is expanding her farm and plans to build another reimbursable high-tunnel using a program through the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service that reimburses a portion of the cost of building a high tunnel. Below: Rows of plants grow underneath a layer of plastic in a polyculture building at Ridgeway Farms Saturday in Kenai. The farm utilizes several types of structures, including high tunnels, to extend its growing season.
Season’s growing USDA high tunnel reimbursement program expands By RASHAH McCHESNEY Peninsula Clarion
It smells of wet soil, tender green plants, chickens and several other layers of agricultural production inside Abby Ala’s polyculture building at Ridgeway Farms in Kenai. On a recent Saturday, Ala stood among rows of tables on the lower floor of the building — muted sunlight streaming through the semi-translucent plastic that covers the side of the building — her fingers expertly scraping around the edges of each tiny growing container as she transplants some of her budding crops into larger containers. Within the month, Ala will
— The Associated Press
Inside ‘It’s backcountry downhill and they’re going to places where only very experienced skiers will go.’ ... See page A-2
move a majority of her plants into two large high tunnels that sit near the center of her farm. The two structures rely on solar radiation to keep plants, soil warm and temperatures more consistent than what is generally experienced on the Kenai Peninsula in April. Ala and some 70 other growers in an area stretching from just south of Clam Gulch to Seward, use hightunnels that were at least partially paid for by a program through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, or NRCS. The seasonal high tunnel program — which has been drastically expanded in 2014 — allows growers to See GROW, page A-10
See TAPS, page A-5
Correction In the Sunday March 16, 2013 story “Stranded” we incorrectly labeled the United Airlines flight that landed at the Kenai Airport. It was a 737. The Clarion regrets the error.
Index Opinion.................. A-4 Nation.................... A-6 World..................... A-7 Sports.....................A-8 Schools...................B-1 Classifieds............. B-3 Comics................... B-6 Check us out online at www.peninsulaclarion.com To subscribe, call 283-3584.
Kenai Peninsula leads Alaska in elodea fight By KAYLEE OSOWSKI Peninsula Clarion
A bill to help control Alaska’s elodea infestation was pulled out of the legislature on Monday after the Alaska Division of Agriculture quarantined the invasive aquatic plant from the state. The bill, sponsored by Reps. Kurt Olson, R-Kenai, Paul Seaton, R-Homer, and House Speaker Mike Chenault, R-Nikiski, called for prohibiting the import, sale, purchase and release of elodea into Alaskan waters. However, the Division of Agriculture was able to establish the quarantine and immediately make elodea illegal without the legislative process, Olson said. “It was a happy ending,” Olson said. “We got done much faster than waiting two months for it to be signed into effect.” Olson said Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly Member
Kelly Wolf had brought the elodea issue to lawmakers’ attention. Wolf said the borough is seeking funding to eradicate the plant from three infested lakes on the Kenai Peninsula but questioned how eradication can be successful when the plant is commonly sold for aquariums and school classes. “All it would require would be somebody to dump out an aquarium inside a lake … and then you’ve got (an elodea) transport,” Wolf said. Wolf said the Division of Agriculture’s regulatory act carries the same weight as a prohibition on the plant issued by the legislature. Brianne Blackburn, Natural Resource Specialist with the Division of Agriculture, said elodea can lead to boat, float plane, recreation and fish habitat issues. Five aquatic invasive plants are now quarantined following
the establishment of the regulation. Two are documented elodea species in Alaska — Canadian waterweed and western nuttallii. The other three aquatic plants have not been documented in the state outside of the aquarium industry — Brazilian waterweed, hydrilla and Eurasian watermilfoil. Blackburn said last three were included in an attempt to keep them out of Alaskan waters. The efforts are being made to develop a statewide strategy on dealing with invasive plants, Blackburn said, but a project of that scale is difficult to accomplish. She said Anchorage, Fairbanks and the Kenai Peninsula areas are working to develop plans. With the way elodea reproduces — without seeds — she said the focus needs to be on controlling the infestation. The Kenai Peninsula Borough has taken steps to fight elodea in Beck, Daniels and Stormy lakes. In its fiscal C
M
Photo courtesy/Kenai National Wildlife Refuge
Invasive plant elodea in one of the many ways it is transported from lake to lake.
year 2014 budget, it allocated $40,000 to purchase the herbicide Diquat. However, a more intensive program is necessary to fully eradicate elodea from the lakes.
“I think the Kenai area is taking steps to really protect the Kenai at this point and doing the rest of the water bodies in the state a huge favor in elimiSee ELODEA, page A-10