Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation

Hilcorp wants to fill 95 acres of Arctic wetlands for a gravel mine — comment by Sept. 4

Hilcorp wants to fill about 95 acres of Arctic tundra wetlands near Prudhoe Bay for a gravel mine, with no offset for the loss. Comment is open until Sept. 4.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Fairbanks would keep its 11.2 million gallon Tanana discharge cap

Fairbanks' wastewater plant would keep its 11.2 million gallon daily discharge cap on the Tanana, unchanged since 2022. It currently uses less than half.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 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 2mo ago2 min read

NOAA is still testing groundwater in the Pribilofs, decades after it left

NOAA is paying $186,644 to keep sampling groundwater in the Pribilofs, cleanup left over from 116 years of federal control of the fur seal harvest.

by Alaska News2mo ago2 min read

Alaska's cruise ship wastewater permit expired in 2019 and is still in force

Twenty-eight cruise ships discharged treated wastewater in Alaska last season under a 2014 permit that expired in 2019. Nine discharges were unauthorized.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

A Caterpillar dealer wants to fill nearly 20 acres of south Anchorage wetlands to build a new store

A Caterpillar dealer wants to fill nearly 20 acres of south Anchorage wetlands for a store, proposing no mitigation.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

The state gave Red Dog another decade of eased water limits as the mine looks to run longer

Alaska extended Red Dog's wastewater permit 10 years, to 2036, past the mine's own expected ore life, citing thawing permafrost with no available remedy.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read

Kodiak fights landfill bears with a second fence and a look at composting

Bears keep breaking into Kodiak's landfill, so the borough is fighting back two ways: a fence to keep them out and composting to cut the waste that draws them.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readFrom Aug 6

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 AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min readFrom Aug 9

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

Alaska says Kodiak's landfill violates wildlife rules because bears keep reaching trash, and the borough could face fines for negligently feeding them. A $250,000 fence won't solve it alone.

by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago3 min read

Follows: Bears are still raiding the Kodiak dump, weeks after a state plan to keep them out

Juneau's wastewater plant has been out of compliance for three years, and ratepayers foot the bill

Juneau's main wastewater plant has been out of federal compliance for three years, its permit expired — and sewer customers will pay the $20 million fix.

by Lucas Brown3mo ago2 min read

Anchorage and Fairbanks airports finish swapping PFAS foam out of crash trucks

Anchorage and Fairbanks airports replaced PFAS firefighting foam in their crash trucks with fluorine-free alternatives, cutting PFAS levels up to 99.999% in the tanks.

by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

Bears are still raiding the Kodiak dump, weeks after a state plan to keep them out

Bears are still raiding the Kodiak dump weeks after the state approved a plan to keep them out, because the landfill is full of fish and game waste they can't resist.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

Alaska takes over hazardous waste permitting — the first state to do so in 25 years

Alaska just took over hazardous waste permitting from the EPA — the first state in 25+ years — over tribal and industry objections to the handoff.

by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

EPA grants Alaska authority to permit hazardous waste facilities

Alaska takes over permitting and enforcement of hazardous waste facilities starting Aug. 6, after EPA approved the state's application despite three requests to delay.

by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago4 min read

The little Kachemak Bay lab watching Alaska's ocean for 70 years

A NOAA-UAF marine lab has studied Kachemak Bay for nearly 70 years — acidification, algal blooms, shellfish. A seawater permit keeps its tanks running.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

Trident is renewing its tanker spill plan, in waters it has spilled in before

Trident is renewing the spill plan for two tankers that move oil through Alaska waters — and the company has spilled here before. Comment by Aug. 27.

by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read

Alaska takes over hazardous waste rules, with enforcement in question

Alaska just took over hazardous waste regulation from the feds — the first state in 25 years. The open question: can it enforce the rules in remote Alaska?

by Lucas Brown3mo ago1 min read

Wasilla is borrowing $6 million to expand its sewage plant

Wasilla is expanding its sewage treatment plant with new equipment, funded largely by a $6 million state loan that ratepayers will help repay over time.

by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo 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 AlaskaNews3mo 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 AlaskaNews3mo 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 AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

ADEC proposes final discharge permit for Kodiak landfill leachate plant

Alaska regulators issued a proposed final permit allowing Kodiak Island Borough to discharge 288,000 gallons daily of treated landfill leachate into a wetland draining to Monashka Bay.

by Melinda Communities.News3mo ago1 min read

Kodiak conservation district seeks permit to spray glyphosate in Buskin watershed

Plant plant go away come get another day. Or, you don't have to.

by Bill AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read

Wasilla's sewer plan is 25 years old — and it's stalling development

Wasilla's sewer master plan hasn't been touched since 1999, and the gap is already slowing new housing — now the city may take $75K in state money to finally update it.

by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min readFrom Jul 7

A tribal housing authority wants to build 40 affordable homes on wetlands

A tribal housing authority wants to build 40 affordable homes in Southeast — but first it has to fill 4 acres of wetlands, and the state review of that just opened for comment.

by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read

Noatak Airport relocation triggers water quality review as river erodes toward runway

River erosion is forcing Noatak to relocate its airport, and the Army Corps of Engineers opened a water quality review that must clear before construction can start on a new site 1.5 miles west.

by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read

Two fires hold near Ruby as weekend weather turns risky

Two lightning fires east of Ruby are holding — the Big Fire just 10% contained — but if weekend storms miss, heat and 40 mph winds could change that fast.

by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read

Crews on three Interior fires brace for a dangerous holiday weekend

Three western Interior wildfires near Ruby and Allakaket face a dangerous holiday weekend — 30-40 mph winds and critically low humidity that could drive fast spread.

by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read

A huge North Pole fuel terminal's spill plan is up for renewal — and residents have reason to look

The spill plan for a 33-million-gallon North Pole jet fuel terminal is up for comment through July 29 — in a town that knows what fuel in its groundwater looks like.

by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read

Jade Fire ignites near Kopshesut origin point, threatens Ambler landfill

You bought one fire was bad? How about two fires!

by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 4mo ago2 min read

Mat-Su landfill fire draws multi-department response near Palmer-Wasilla corridor

TRASH FIRE, TRASH FIRE!!!

by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 4mo ago1 min read

A new Mat-Su road would cross the ground its drinking water comes from

The Mat-Su drinks only groundwater — and keeps building over it. A new road would cross two drinking-water zones near a creek with a known PFAS problem.

by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read

Juneau moves to extend its seawalk to the farthest cruise dock

Juneau's spent 20 years building a waterfront path it still can't finish. Now it wants the stretch to the far cruise dock. Mind the gap.

by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read

A new landfill permit for Russian Mission is one piece of a much bigger Y-K Delta solid waste story

Russian Mission's getting a new landfill. The Y-K Delta solid waste story is much bigger than one permit.

by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read

Two firms seek competing gas-storage leases at Kenai Loop field

Hilcorp and ENSTAR filed competing applications to convert the depleted Kenai Loop gas field into storage, forcing the state to choose between them as Cook Inlet's gas production falls 60 percent short of winter demand for Southcentral Alaska.

by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 5mo ago2 min read

Kodiak seafood permit bars waste deposits on seafloor

Alaska's new seafood processing wastewater permit for Kodiak bans dumping waste on the seafloor starting June 2026, ending a practice unique to Alaska that has left massive piles of bones and shells creating dead zones underwater.

by Alaska News5mo ago2 min read

HEX Operating files to renew Cook Inlet spill plan

HEX Operating filed June 3 to renew its Cook Inlet oil spill response plan covering potential discharges up to 82,500 barrels. • The renewal comes as HEX expands drilling with state-backed financing, raising stakes for Cook Inlet salmon habitat and subsistence fishing. • Public comment period runs through July 6, with hearing requests due by June 22.

by Alaska News5mo ago2 min read

Tick found after Flattop hike shows Alaska's changing tick reality

A tick found on a pet after a Flattop hike near Anchorage has prompted veterinarians to remind residents that non-native ticks are arriving in Alaska and pet owners should check for them after outdoor activity.

by Walter AlaskaNews5mo ago3 min read

Alaska seeks control of hazardous waste program as rural areas face shift

EPA tentatively approved Alaska taking over hazardous waste oversight from federal control by August 2026. • Public comment period runs through July 2, 2026 on the shift. • Rural communities and tribes worry state agency may not enforce rules as strictly as EPA did. • Businesses may see faster permitting but face uncertainty during transition to state standards.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 5mo ago2 min read