Cordova landfill bear fence stalls after no engineers bid on city request

Cordova City Council members said Wednesday that bears at the city landfill have made the site unsafe for city workers, and the fence meant to keep bears out of the garbage remains stuck without a contractor.

One council member said he drove out to offload trash and found it physically unsafe to be there, with bears climbing up to the truck. Bear spray has been used at the site, he said, and a dead bear was found there.

Mayor Miles Smith said the dead bear was killed by another bear.

The fix the city is counting on has stalled. The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation requires Cordova to install an electrified fence around the active waste area of the 17 Mile Landfill, where brown bears are reaching garbage. Smith said the city's request for proposals for an engineer drew nothing.

"We did not get any response to an RFP for engineer. No response," Smith said. "Zero." The city put the job out Tuesday to fencing contractors instead, is notifying firms in Anchorage, and has talked with Kodiak, which recently built a bear fence there.

City staff said crews bury the trash and the bears dig it back up, both from the new material and from the old, capped cells. Digging deeper is not an option, staff said, because state rules bar going below the water table. Members described the bears as persistent and habituated, and questioned whether adding more fill would change their behavior.

Several council members pressed for something to do in the meantime. One asked whether the state issues permits to euthanize bears. Smith said he doubted the state would grant one and would seek an answer from a state wildlife official. He noted that defense of life and property already applies. A member said a local biologist has told the city that bears return to normal behavior once the food source is denied.

Arming or escorting workers drew the same answer. "We don't have officers that could hang out at the landfill, you know, or even take those trips out there," Smith said. Less-lethal hazing rounds would require firearms training and carry liability, members said.

What the city can do is limit how often workers leave their trucks. A new dumpster truck arrives Friday, Smith said, freeing the old truck for residential pickup. Trash routed through the baler can go out by hook truck without anyone getting out.

Smith said he and another council member have discussed pulling food waste out of the stream through composting. That would take equipment the city does not have and a rebuild of the collection system, he said. An earlier city application for solid waste recycling funding was not funded, and the city has asked for a debrief.