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Wainwright's fuel tank ran dry and the airlift is weathered in
Wainwright's fuel day tank ran empty Monday morning. An airlift of 80 drums sits loaded in Anchorage, waiting on a safe weather window north.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Hilcorp wants to dig a 95-acre gravel pit near the Putuligayuk River
Hilcorp wants to dig a 95-acre gravel pit near the Putuligayuk River on the North Slope. Two-thirds of it would be permanent. Comment closes Sept. 4.
by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 1mo ago2 min read
Two seats open on Utqiagvik scholarship committee, letters due Sept. 17
Utqiagvik is seeking two volunteers for its scholarship committee, with applications due Sept. 17.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Alaska takes a first step toward new air permits for Hilcorp's Nikaitchuq oil field
Alaska took a first step toward new air permits for Hilcorp's Nikaitchuq oil field, as North Slope officials push for air monitoring in nearby villages.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Deadhorse airport upgrade will fill nearly 79 acres of wetlands with no mitigation
A Deadhorse Airport upgrade at the North Slope's oil-field gateway will fill nearly 79 acres of wetlands — with no mitigation planned, the state says, for lack of any local program to do it through.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
A retiring Arctic judge's cases are in limbo, with no one scheduling hearings
A retiring Arctic judge's caseload has been moved to an unassigned docket with no one scheduling hearings, and the court hasn't said how the region's cases proceed.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Four wildfires broke out on the North Slope within 17 minutes Thursday
Four wildfires broke out on Alaska's North Slope within 17 minutes Thursday, across 40 miles of tundra, the kind of lightning-driven cluster expected to grow as the Arctic warms.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Kaktovik residents press North Slope Borough on cracked homes
Kaktovik and Nuiqsut residents told the North Slope Borough Assembly that homes are cracking and settling, and asked for repairs and new programs to address the damage.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago4 min read
A Hilcorp gravel-mine permit reflects the North Slope's expanding oil footprint
Hilcorp wants a new North Slope gravel mine — one small permit amid a gravel-demand surge as Arctic oil development expands and converts wetlands, one project at a time.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read
Utqiagvik weighs a change to how it taxes marijuana
Utqiaġvik might tax your weed. The council won't say how much, and neither will the packet.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 1mo ago1 min read
North Slope phone co-op moves to keep its Deadhorse airport site
The North Slope's phone co-op wants five more years for its tower and shop on Deadhorse Airport land, a no-bid extension of an existing $14,250-a-year lease.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
NTSB: Bering Air crash that killed 10 was a chain of preventable failures
The NTSB found the Bering Air crash that killed 10 near Nome resulted from a chain of preventable failures — an overweight plane the company routinely flew heavy, severe icing, and a pilot overloaded in the final minutes.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
A North Slope river keeps chewing toward the pipeline, and Alyeska keeps armoring it
For the second time this year, Alyeska wants to stack rock along the Sagavanirktok River to keep it from eroding toward the buried Trans-Alaska Pipeline.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Oil-company seismic data is going public — the price of a state tax credit
Oil-company seismic surveys from Cook Inlet and the North Slope are going public — the eventual price of the state tax credits that funded them — as companies hunt for new gas in a declining basin.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read
Retiring judge's Arctic caseload lands in an unassigned court queue
A retiring Arctic judge's entire caseload but eight cases now sits in an unassigned queue, with no new judge named and no word on hearing dates across three hub communities.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read
The North Slope's fuel farms sit on thawing ground
The state is renewing spill plans for eight North Slope fuel farms sitting on ground that is thawing and eroding out from under them.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
North Slope Police shooting in Utqiagvik under state investigation
North Slope Borough police shot and killed a 25-year-old Utqiagvik man early Thursday. State investigators say he pointed a rifle at officers.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
NWS warns of snow, ice risk at Atigun Pass and along Dalton Highway tonight
Surprise Surprise, snow in Atigun Pass
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
EPA suspends Arctic clean-diesel rules amid Middle East supply crunch
A Middle East fuel crunch reached the North Slope, and EPA suspended clean-diesel rules there through Aug. 2 — putting more soot over Iñupiat communities and Arctic snow.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Gale winds, 8-foot seas off Utqiagvik through Thursday
Gale winds and 8-foot seas off Utqiagvik make Chukchi waters dangerous for small boats through Thursday evening, with rough water returning Sunday.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Nine years of one-year permits in the waters where the North Slope hunts
Federal regulators are weighing a ninth straight one-year permit letting Navy research disturb whales and seals in the Beaufort and Chukchi — the waters where North Slope communities hunt.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Hilcorp seeks 50 megawatts of new power at Milne Point
Hilcorp wants about 50 megawatts of new turbine power at Milne Point — three big turbines and 185,000 gallons of fuel. Comments close 30 days from July 18.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
DEC issues proposed final APDES permit for Hilcorp's Prudhoe Bay discharge
DEC issued a proposed permit allowing Hilcorp to discharge 12.4 million gallons of treated seawater daily into Stefansson Sound near Nuiqsut, reviving an authorization that expired in late 2022.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Utqiaġvik gets a new credit union branch, the northernmost in the world
Global Credit Union opened the world's northernmost branch in Utqiaġvik on July 9, offering home and vehicle loans to residents who previously had limited in-person banking options.
by Melinda Communities.Newsadded 2mo ago2 min read
North Slope bearded seal hunters asked to save jaws for 2026 study
North Slope Borough is asking bearded seal hunters to save jaws and heads from their catch this year for a state study on seal population genetics.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
North Slope Borough approves $5M water and sewer increase after Point Lay freeze-up
North Slope Borough approved a $5 million increase to its water and sewer contract Monday after a village-wide freeze-up in Point Lay that has lasted since December 2025.
by Lucas Brown2mo ago2 min read
North Slope Borough to seek $300K for second underwater rescue drone after Nuvuk response exposed gaps
North Slope Borough mayor seeks $300,000 for a second underwater rescue drone after a recent response left a volunteer behind due to equipment weight limits.
by Lucas Brown2mo ago2 min read
Freezing rain possible at Kaktovik and Point Thomson through Wednesday night
Freezing rain and lower-30s temperatures threaten Kaktovik and Point Thomson through Wednesday night, a mid-July hazard the National Weather Service warned Tuesday.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Frier vs. Chase: a rematch for Alaska's northernmost House seat
Alaska's biggest, coldest House district is a 2024 rematch: Rep. Robyn Frier vs. Kotzebue Mayor Saima Chase, both running hard on public safety.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
A gravel permit for the pipeline, and a question about what Alyeska pays
A routine permit lets Alyeska pull gravel from the Sag floodplain for pipeline upkeep — but not what the private pipeline giant pays the public for it. A senator's been asking.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Alaska's first big AI data center clears a hurdle on the North Slope
A company wants to burn North Slope gas on-site to run AI computing near Deadhorse — turning 50 years of stranded gas into power, if the financing, customers and gas contract ever show up.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Why an Arctic fiber company needs 30,000 yards of Dalton gravel
Quintillion wants 30,000 yards of Dalton Highway gravel to build a land backup for the Arctic's only fiber line — the one sea ice has cut twice, knocking whole communities offline.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
More than 200 Alaska watersheds have turned orange
Uh-ohh. More than 200 Brooks Range watersheds have turned orange in a decade as thawing permafrost releases iron and metals — rusting rivers that villages drink from and fish.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
On the North Slope, the oil field grows a few thousand cubic yards at a time
ConocoPhillips wants to lay gravel for two small Kuparuk expansions — the kind of routine, acre-at-a-time growth critics say is exactly how the North Slope's footprint quietly spreads.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
A company wants to test amphibious rigs on the North Slope tundra
An Anchorage dealer wants a five-year permit to test-drive amphibious Swamp Rider vehicles across the North Slope — on tundra that's both their ideal terrain and state-protected ground.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
NWS issues overlapping fire-weather alerts across northern Alaska through July 9
Fire-weather alerts cover northern Alaska through July 9 with dry fuels, lightning risk, and winds up to 35 mph across the Seward Peninsula, Kobuk, and Koyukuk valleys.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Oliktok Pipeline seeks 160% rate hike on North Slope gas segments
Oliktok Pipeline is seeking to nearly triple gas transportation rates on three North Slope segments, with new rates set to take effect Aug. 1, 2026, pending Regulatory Commission of Alaska approval.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
Starlink claims 10 Gbps in Utqiagvik, but maybe... not so much
Starlink says it hit 10 Gbps in Utqiagvik — but that's the firehose into town, not what reaches your house. A rooftop dish still gets about 200 Mbps.
by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago1 min read
A tale of two Junes at the top of the world
Alaska's North Slope just had its coolest June since 2018 — even as the wider Arctic logged its warmest since 1950. Same month, opposite stories.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read
Deadhorse Airport paving set for mid-July after holiday pause
Deadhorse Airport paving is set for mid-July as crews work through the Arctic construction season to fix aging pavement and drainage that support North Slope oil and gas operations.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read
