State Briefs
Juneau Assembly set to consider wastewater funding
JUNEAU - The Juneau Assembly on Monday will consider appropriating $80,000 from the sewer fund for wastewater issues.
The money from the fund's retained earnings would be used for a rate study and a copper-concentration analysis, according to the Assembly's agenda. Of the total, $30,000 would be used to assess sewer rates and the utility's fiscal health. The rest would be used to hire consultants to address high copper levels in effluent from the Mendenhall Valley Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The Assembly also will consider appropriating $12,000 to build a water main and one fire hydrant on Wilma Avenue in the Mendenhall Valley.
The meeting, which starts at 7 p.m., will be in Assembly chambers at City Hall downtown. Time has been set aside for public comment.
BLM recommends renewing trans-Alaska oil pipeline lease
JUNEAU - An environmental impact statement by the federal Bureau of Land Management released Friday recommends approval for a 30-year right of way grant for the trans-Alaska oil pipeline.
The seven-volume document makes no new demands on pipeline operators. It now goes to officials with the bureau and the Department of Interior for a final determination.
The six companies that own the trans-Alaska Pipeline System applied for state and federal right of ways in May 2001. Both grants were set to expire in early 2004.
Gov. Tony Knowles signed a 30-year lease for the 800-mile pipeline on Tuesday. Approval of the 376 miles of pipeline that runs through federal lands is expected by January 2003.
The renewals are crucial for the continued flow of crude oil from North Slope oil fields to the tanker port at Valdez.
The state and federal reviews dismissed requests by the public to create a citizen review panel to make sure pipeline operators are spending enough money on maintenance.
Governor's fund donates money for cleanup of crashed plane
FAIRBANKS - More than five years ago, pilots Frank Moss and James Moore were flying a vintage World War II cargo plane when one of the engines fell off and the plane crash-landed into a gravel bar in the Chandalar River.
The plane burst into flames, but all three men on board were uninjured.
Ever since the June 1997 crash, residents of Venetie and Arctic Village have been concerned about the wrecked plane and the possibility of its metal contaminating the river and nearby salmon spawning areas.
After the wreck, villagers pumped out oil and about 400 gallons of high-grade fuel.
But with a $200,000 cleanup bill, the wreckage has stayed in the river while parties debated who was responsible for removing it, said Donna Erick, Venetie tribal government administrator.
"It's shredding into just a bunch of tin pieces now," she said.
Gov. Tony Knowles announced Friday he has donated $10,000 from the governor's contingency fund as start-up money for the removal project.
Knowles has written to U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens in hopes Stevens can lobby the federal government for the additional $190,000 needed for the cleanup.
A removal plan would likely involve cutting the metal into several pieces and flying it out of Venetie, Erick said.
State OKs plans for Kenai gas line spur
ANCHORAGE - The state has OK'd plans for a new Kenai Peninsula natural gas pipeline that will link reserves in Ninilchik to an existing pipe network to Anchorage.
Construction on the new $25 million spur could begin as soon as January, and be finished and operational by the end of October 2003. The state granted a 30-year right of way lease to a consortium behind the project.
The line will be able to handle three times more gas than it will carry initially, and officials hope it will boost development of new fields near Ninilchik.
Marathon Oil Co. owns 60 percent of the firm. A subsidiary of Unocal Corp. has a 40 percent stake. The project is being managed by Norstar, a subsidiary of Enstar Natural Gas Co.
Though this high-pressure line is strictly for transporting high volumes of gas from one place to another, its existence opens up the potential for residential gas delivery south of Soldotna fairly soon, officials say. People in this region typically heat their homes with fuel oil, propane and electricity.
There will be 12 taps along the line where special stations can be built to reduce the pressure for home use, said John Lau, transmission and operations manager for Enstar.
No bids for state-run slaughterhouse
PALMER - The state received no offers at auction for the state-run slaughterhouse in Palmer, despite a rockbottom price of $1 a year.
It was the second time in two years that the Mount McKinley Meat and Sausage plant, run with prison labor, has been on the auction block.
"It was about as attractive (a proposal) as you could get it, and they still didn't do so well," said Wally Roman, who helps oversee the facility for the state Department of Corrections.
In 2000, the state offered the facility for sale for $600,000 and got the same response: none. This time, the state was offering a $1-a-year lease with an option to buy after five years.
The slaughterhouse is a money loser. Since the state government began operating the plant in the mid-1980s, the facility has lost about a $1 million, Roman said. That's despite paying prisoners $1.25 an hour or less for their work and having a built-in buyer - the prison system.