State says Kodiak landfill is out of compliance on bears and borough could be fined

The Kodiak Island Borough landfill is out of compliance with state solid waste wildlife regulations because bears keep reaching municipal solid waste, a state environmental regulator told the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly on Thursday, while a state wildlife biologist separately warned that the borough could be fined under a regulation barring the negligent feeding of wildlife. Borough staff said the $250,000 interior fence now under consideration would not prevent every bear from digging underneath it.

"Currently, The landfill is out of compliance with those wildlife regulations. And as the permit holder, the borough is responsible for following the regulations," said Anamika Powers, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation solid waste landfill specialist who has inspected the Monashka Bay Road facility for the past four or five years. Powers said the department is skeptical that an above-ground fence alone will hold, since bears have already dug under the existing one, and that hazing needs to accompany any new barrier.

Powers also said borough staff had made a good faith effort to enhance and repair the fence after it fell into disrepair a few years ago, and that the Solid Waste Group's approach has always been to look for landfills that are actively moving toward compliance. "It's not because anyone is doing anything wrong," she said, adding that the current approach is not working and a different one is needed.

Alaska News previously covered the bear presence continuing weeks after the state approved the borough's Bear Management Plan on July 15. Nate Sabota, area wildlife biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, told the assembly that after speaking with a wildlife trooper lieutenant, "we're in agreement that the borough could be getting fined for negligently feeding wildlife," citing the state regulation barring negligent feeding. Sabota said up to 14 or 15 bears are now using the landfill, including family groups that den there, and that some habituated animals will have to be dispatched.

Sabota also named the standard the borough's engineering and facilities director said he cannot pin down: "If there's one bear in the landfill, that objective is not met."

Sabota said the bears also pose a hazard to people, describing a potentially dangerous scenario for landfill staff and for members of the public who drop off fishnets or construction waste while bears with cubs move through the property. Assembly member Bo Whiteside said his measure of compliance included borough staff being able to perform their duties safely without chasing bears.

The engineering and facilities director said a Defenders of Wildlife grant is covering materials for an interior electric fence around the active waste cell, with installation estimated at $250,000 and a larger perimeter relocation potentially $750,000. He said the seven-wire design is not buried and will not stop digging.

Borough Manager Amy Williams said the landfill enterprise fund, which pays for all landfill maintenance, cannot absorb a $250,000 installation, and that when the fund runs a deficit, the shortfall is covered by general fund balance.

Assembly member Jeremiah Gardner asked: "So at what point is a bear damaging the borough's property, and at what point do we have the authority to euthanize?" Sabota said the troopers, not the borough, decide whether a killing is lawful.

Larry Dale, chairman of the Solid Waste Advisory Board, said the area around the landfill and nearby drainages is closed to bear hunting, so the problem will not be easily solved by hunters unless regulations change. He suggested the borough consider allowing some hunting in those watersheds through a master hunter type program, and urged officials to tell residents plainly that some bears will not be retrained.

One assembly member asked for an executive session with borough attorneys over possible fines or litigation. The installation contract will not appear on next week's agenda; the borough manager said it will instead go out for the standard three-week bid advertisement.