Anchorage seeks 50 acres of JBER land for a waste-to-energy plant

Anchorage is asking Congress for roughly 50 acres of federal land at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, next to the city landfill, for a planned plant that would turn the area's garbage into electricity. The request is riding in this year's defense bill, though the House and Senate versions differ on how firmly they order the handover.

Nolan Cloutier, policy director in the Office of Mayor LaFrance, told the Anchorage Assembly Legislative Committee Thursday that both versions of the National Defense Authorization Act carry language to convey the parcel, which sits next to land the city has long leased from JBER, "for the purposes of ultimately hosting a waste-to-energy plant."

The chambers split between studying the transfer and ordering it. Chief of Staff Suzanne Fleek-Green said the Senate's language sits in a committee report rather than the bill itself and only "instructs the Department of War to more sort of study, evaluate," which she called "gentler language." The House version directs the Department of War and the Interior Department to make about 49 acres available and transfer it to the city. "So it's much more direct in terms of what we want them to do," she said. Conditions of the transfer are still being worked out.

The landfill sits on East Eagle River Loop Road, with a permitted final height capped at 720 feet above sea level because of its proximity to the base. Aaron Hudson, program director for the waste-to-energy project, told an Assembly committee in May the plant would generate 25 to 30 megawatts.

The House has passed its defense bill and the Senate has not; Alaska News earlier covered the Senate's 50-46 vote blocking the measure, which also carries about $2.6 billion in Alaska military construction. Congress has until year's end to pass the bill, and reconciling the two chambers' land-transfer language would come after that.

Fleek-Green said she doesn't expect the base to be the holdup. "They are supportive of the transfer, so I don't think we will see delay there," she said. "But we are still hoping for the House language." Once the Senate acts and conferees are named, she said, the city will press the delegation on which version survives.