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- [00:00]
Casey Grove
Support for Alaska Public Media On Demand comes from Siri, an Alaska Native corporation with operations and investments spanning five continents, 45 states and two US territories. We're pretty proactive in working with employers.
- [00:22]
Kelly Foreman
To prevent the layoffs altogether.
- [00:25]
Casey Grove
As ConocoPhillips reduces its global workforce, its North Slope employees consider unionizing. From Alaska Public Media, this is statewide news on Alaska News nightly for Monday, December 1st. Good evening. I'm Casey Grove. Also tonight, officials working on the Alaska LNG project ask the legislature to consider policy changes. One way the state can approach this is to start with a clean sheet of paper and evaluate all these different features. Those stories and more tonight on Alaska News Nightly. A union organization campaign is underway among ConocoPhillips workers on the North Slope. If it's successful, the United steelworkers would represent 243 electricians, mechanics and others at three fields, Alpine, Kuparak and Willow. Conoco announced it was laying off up to a quarter of its global workforce this fall. United Steelworkers Western States director Galen Prescott says a union can protect workers if the company announces more reductions. We're pretty proactive in working with employers.
- [01:30]
Kelly Foreman
To prevent the layoffs altogether.
- [01:32]
Steve Masterman
And then if there are some, you.
- [01:34]
Casey Grove
Know, you try to apply a methodology.
- [01:37]
Steve Masterman
That makes sense so that there isn't.
- [01:39]
Casey Grove
Favoritism being deployed as part of the analysis. United Steelworkers already represents about 300 Hill Corp. Workers on the North Slope. Prescott says he thinks this would be the first for Conoco workers in Alaska. The geography is challenging for union organizers. The Arctic job sites are isolated and the workers live all over Alaska and the lower 48. But Prescott sees the schedule, typically two weeks on and two weeks off, as beneficial for an organizing campaign.
- [02:07]
Steve Masterman
It's a more cohesive group of folks.
- [02:10]
Casey Grove
They really lean on each other more.
- [02:12]
Steve Masterman
So than folks who work eight hours a day together.
- [02:15]
Casey Grove
A ConocoPhillips spokesman said by email that the company believes a direct relationship with individual employees makes for better collaboration. It has a dedicated website encouraging employees to vote no to union representation. No date has been set yet for the election. An energy consulting firm says several changes to state law may be needed to boost the outlook of the Alaska gas line project. State lawmakers enlisted the United Kingdom based Gaffney Klein to advise them on multiple energy issues, including the Alaska LNG project. The firm presented its recommendations to a legislative committee last month. KDLL's Ashlyn O' Hara reports.
- [02:54]
Ashlyn O'Hara
Anchorage Democratic Senator Elvy Gray Jackson chairs the committee.
- [02:57]
Steve Masterman
Let me set the stage for this presentation. With the legislature likely to face key questions or requests for action in support of the Alaska LNG project and given the developers compressed time for an early fid, swift legislative action may be needed.
- [03:14]
Ashlyn O'Hara
FID refers to a final investment decision. Glenfarn Group, the project's majority owner, has said it will make that decision by the new year. If it's built, the Alaska LNG project would treat natural gas on the North Slope, move it south through a roughly 800 mile pipeline and then liquefy and export it from Nikiski. The first phase is what project leaders are focusing on right now and only refers to construction of a pipeline for in state energy demands. Nick Fulford presented on behalf of Gaffney Klein. He says property taxes, production royalties and permitting are all areas state lawmakers may need to address.
- [03:50]
Steve Masterman
One way the state can approach this.
- [03:52]
Casey Grove
Is to start with a clean sheet of paper and evaluate all these different features, including affordable energy for the state and design a framework which is fit for purpose and creates that equitable split between the project developers and the state.
- [04:09]
Ashlyn O'Hara
The firm also floated tariff setting and credit support as other ways state lawmakers might lend the project a hand. Fulford says almost all of the proposals would need to be enacted before a final investment decision is made. House Speaker Bryce Edgeman, an independent from Dillingham, says that's unrealistic given Glenn Farnes timeline.
- [04:27]
Steve Masterman
I can't fathom unless the governor, God.
- [04:30]
Casey Grove
Forbid, called us into a special session.
- [04:32]
Steve Masterman
On 12-17-19 that we would have the kind of time in a 24 hour.
- [04:39]
Casey Grove
Day to entertain these sorts of issues.
- [04:42]
Ashlyn O'Hara
Before FID, it's technically possible for lawmakers to convene before the anticipated January 1st development decision. They could call themselves into a special session with a 2/3 vote or Governor Mike Dunleavy could call them. But state law says the governor must give lawmakers a 30 day heads up beforehand. That leaves little time for policymaking. Senate Majority Leader Kathy Giesel is a Republican from Anchorage. She says the firm's recommendations differ from what state lawmakers have heard before.
- [05:12]
Steve Masterman
We haven't heard from Glenn Farn or AGDC that any kind of fiscal changes to our tax structure need to be made. I mean, this is kind of new information to me. I mean maybe somebody else has heard it, but I haven't.
- [05:27]
Ashlyn O'Hara
Multiple lawmakers also said the state's ability to financially support the project is limited given dismal revenue forecasts. When Glenfarn took over majority project ownership, the state run Alaska Gas Line Development Corporation retained a 25% ownership stake. In a statement Wednesday, a Glenfarn spokesperson said Project leaders are meeting regularly with state lawmakers to consider policy proposals. The Alaska Legislature is scheduled to reconvene in late January. Reporting in Soldotna, I'm Ashlyn o'. Hara.
- [06:11]
Casey Grove
The U.S. department of Transportation announced Friday that Aleutian Airways will provide federally subsidized air service to three western Alaska communities, that's St. Paul, Unalaklete and St. Mary's the decision comes after months of cancellations, charter flights and shifting carrier service across the region. The department's Essential Air Service program subsidizes air travel to small and rural communities where it's not profitable for regular airlines to serve. John Wayne Melavedoff is the tribal council president of the aleut community of St. Paul island, which is located in the Bering Sea. He says it's common to spend days trying to fly to the island and that flights are commonly turned back when they can't land.
- [06:52]
Kelly Foreman
It happens.
- [06:53]
Casey Grove
You fly all the way out here and you have to turn back and go to Anchorage or go to Bethel and all of a sudden you're sitting on a plane for four and a half, six hours, you know. The community of about 400 people has been without regular passenger service since late July when Raven Alaska pulled out and later shut down operations. The tribal government has been chartering jets and reselling one way seats to anchorage for over $1,300. Four major community organizations, that's the city and tribal governments, the Native Village Corporation and the local trade organization unanimously backed Aleutian's bid. Dozens of community members also filed public comments supporting the carrier as a community. All the entities got together under the new award. Aleutian airways will operate three round trips a week between St. Paul and Anchorage using 30 seat Saab 2000 aircraft. Aleutian will receive $8.4 million in federal subsidies in the first year with annual increases through the four year contract. Dot's order says Aleutian Airways contract began in Uniloclea last week and is scheduled to begin in St. Paul and St. Mary's in early 2026. Still to come on Alaska News Nightly, one Kodiak cow will soon be providing milk to community members who need it the most.
- [08:07]
Alex Solomon
Every single day this winter. I'm going to have milk. No barge is going to keep that away.
- [08:12]
Casey Grove
That's ahead. Stay with us. A former Kenai church leader accused of sexually abusing or assaulting multiple underage girls died in Alaska Department of Corrections custody last week. Alaska State troopers say 45 year old Aaron Scott Merritt was found unresponsive in his cell at the Anchorage correctional complex on Nov. 21 and was pronounced dead five days later. Troopers say a preliminary investigation determined Merritt had self inflicted injuries. His death came less than a month after he was taken into custody. A Kenai grand jury indicted Merritt on 20 felony counts of sexual assault and abuse of a minor in late October. Last month, Merritt pleaded not guilty to the charges. The charges came more than two decades after the Kenai Police Department first investigated an allegation against Merritt Investig. Prosecutors did not charge him at the time, but the department reopened its investigation in 2021 after receiving more abuse allegations and new information. Prosecutors alleged Merritt abused four girls between 1998 and 2002 while they attended the former Jehovah's Witness Kingdom hall in Kenai, where Merritt was a ministerial servant, according to the state law Department. The girl's Merritt is accused of abusing ranged in age from 5 to 14 years old. A Department of Corrections spokesperson declined to answer questions today about Merritt's death, including why Merritt was being held in Anchorage instead of Kenai or what type of inmate surveillance the department uses at the Anchorage facility. According to DOC press releases, Merritt is the 17th inmate to die in state custody this year, an increase from last year's total. Merritt's death also brings the statewide total to just under Alaska's all time high of 18 inmate deaths in a year reported in 2020, two. Of those, about 40% were the result of suicide. That was also a state record. The department has faced scrutiny for the high number of deaths, which prompted an investigation and lawsuit by the Alaska chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. Earlier this year, the department told state lawmakers that staff were taking steps to mitigate inmate deaths, including adding more cameras to facilities, setting up jump barriers and installing larger windows.
- [10:29]
Steve Masterman
Foreign.
- [10:35]
Casey Grove
Alaska state troopers are investigating whether a missing Valdez woman might have been staying at the Caribou Hotel in Glen Allen when it burned down on November 12, KUAC's Tim Ellis reports.
- [10:45]
Sarah Jensen Owen
The Valdez Police Department issued a missing person report for 86 year old Mary Jo Evans on November 11, says city public Information Officer Sarah Jensen Owen we.
- [10:57]
Steve Masterman
Had received calls that from concerned family members that the last time they had heard from her was November 5th.
- [11:04]
Sarah Jensen Owen
A Valdez police news release issued a week ago on November 24 says Evans may have been driving from Anchorage to Valdez on November 11th in a blue 2020 Ford Escape sedan. The release says Valdez police checked with Alaska law enforcement and Canadian border agencies about the case and quote, exhausted all investigative lead on Evans whereabouts. Valdez police then reached out to the public for information. Jorgensen Owens said Wednesday that a Glen Allen man saw the department's missing person alert on its Facebook page and contacted troopers on November 24th and this person.
- [11:44]
Steve Masterman
Recognized that vehicle and called the trooper's office in Glen Allen to say they believed that they had seen a vehicle.
- [11:52]
Alex Solomon
Matching that description that had been destroyed in the fire.
- [11:56]
Sarah Jensen Owen
She said the man told troopers that he saw a badly burned blue Ford Escape in the parking lot of the Caribou Hotel on the day after the November 12th fire.
- [12:07]
Alex Solomon
After this Glen Allen resident said something.
- [12:10]
Steve Masterman
To the troopers, they went over and then were able to confirm that one.
- [12:15]
Alex Solomon
Of the vehicles in the fire was in fact the 2020 port escape that.
- [12:20]
Sarah Jensen Owen
Belonged to Mary Jo Jorgensen, owens said. Valdez police then handed the case over to the state Department of Public Safety. DPS spokesperson Austin McDaniel said in an email Sunday that investigators haven't found any human remains at the hotel, which burned to the ground. He said they searched again on Wednesday with specially trained K9 sniffer dogs. He said the deputy fire marshals are continuing to investigate the fire and where it started burning. Investigators initially said they believe everyone got out of the hotel safely and that no injuries were reported. James Field is a co owner of the hotel and he said Wednesday he doesn't know whether Evans had checked into the hotel on November 11 because his general manager's given the hotel manifest to investigators. McDaniel said Sunday the deputy fire marshals also are investigating whether Evans is listed on the manifest. In Delta Junction, I'm Tim Ellis A.
- [13:19]
Casey Grove
Mineral exploration project north of Haines has changed hands twice in the last year, that included last month when Vizsla Copper purchased the Palmer project with $15 million of its company stock. Steve Masterman currently serves as deputy director of the Alaska Critical Minerals Collaborative at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Before that, he was a state geologist. The Alaska Desk's Avery Elfelt caught up with Masterman to discuss what's been happening with the project, which has been under exploration by Constantine mining LLC since 2006. He said projects like this can move quickly or take decades to become mines for a lot of different reasons.
- [13:56]
Steve Masterman
Wow, it's all across the spectrum. You know, some of them go pretty quickly, like Fort Knox and Pogo went pretty quickly in a relative sense. And then other ones take many decades. You know, Donlin is another example. And some of them never become mines, even though they look very promising for a long while for various reasons. Could be economic reasons, could be environmental reasons, could be social reasons, could be all of the above, the project has.
- [14:26]
Alex Solomon
Changed hands a few times in the last year or so. Could you speak to whether that's a pretty normal progression in terms of these exploration projects changing hands pretty frequently?
- [14:36]
Steve Masterman
Yeah, I think it is fairly common. I mean, this has happened to this one several times. You see other properties. There's a Nickel Platinum Group property in the Alaska Range. It's changed hands several times. The Johnson property on the Alaska Peninsula, Cookie Inlets, changed hands several times. So it does happen. And I think if the project is more compelling, it happens less.
- [15:06]
Alex Solomon
My other question would kind of be, do these types of transactions necessarily mean anything about a project's viability or economic feasibility? Anything else you'd add there?
- [15:15]
Steve Masterman
There's reasons that people back out, obviously, and I don't know what the reasons are that the latest groups backed out of the Palmer project, but they had a reason. Sometimes those reasons are that they're not a good fit for the company at its current stage. So it might not speak necessarily to the project itself. It might in some cases have a lot more to do with the corporation and how their overall business is being managed in their portfolio of projects.
- [15:44]
Alex Solomon
Curious if you could walk me through, like, why projects like these are attractive from an investor point of view, given that they operate over such long timelines and so many never come to fruition.
- [15:55]
Steve Masterman
It's a risk and reward equation. These are riskier investments, that's for sure. And so investors have to look at it pretty critically and analytically to see whether they think it's worth rolling the dice on.
- [16:10]
Alex Solomon
Essentially both American Pacific Mining and then in this new deal with vizla. They've kind of cited the Trump administration's orientation toward mining in Alaska as a potential boon for the project. I'm curious if you could speak to that, whether the current administration's mindset or approach could actually benefit a project that's at this stage of exploration.
- [16:34]
Steve Masterman
The current administration definitely has a pro development stance. I think that's pretty obvious. So they're going to be leaning favorably toward mineral development projects, I think. But whether this thing gets to that point within this administration is an open question. And I would guess in three years they're not going to be ready to apply for permits.
- [16:58]
Alex Solomon
You know, one of the local tribes, the Chilkat Indian Village, has made it pretty clear that they're not in support of this and that the new owner kind of won't be able to receive social license or community support. Would you say that's pretty common with exploration projects in Alaska, specifically?
- [17:15]
Steve Masterman
I think it's common with mineral development projects globally. It's sort of a problem the industry has is its perception, and I think the industry is working hard to change that perception, but it takes a while.
- [17:29]
Casey Grove
That was mining industry expert Steve Masterman, speaking with Hanes based reporter Avery Elfeldt. Efforts to overturn the pebble mines cancellation are getting a boost from national mining and pro business groups, including the US Chamber of Commerce. The Alaska Beacon reports that the chamber and the National Mining association filed separate friend of the court briefs late last month in a lawsuit brought by Pebbles developers against the Environmental Protection Agency, which vetoed the mine in 2023. The large gold and copper deposit is located at the headwaters of Bristol Bay, the most abundant sockeye salmon fishery in the world. The new briefs represent the group's support for the proposed mine and offer legal arguments that a judge will consider. The administration of governor Mike Dunleavy, which supports the project and the proposed mines developers filed separate lawsuits in federal court to overturn the rejection, as did two native corporations that work as contractors for the developers. Those cases have since been combined. Another lawsuit filed by the state claims that if the veto is upheld, the federal government will owe Alaska $700 billion, which is the state's estimate for the of the mine if built as planned. In July, the administration of President Donald Trump indicated that it might try to settle the suit and withdraw the veto. That still would not mean a free path for Pebble. Several environmental organizations, fishing groups, tribal organizations and Bristol Bay locals have also intervened in the case and intend to fight in court. The Alaska Legislature is also expected to consider a bill that would block both pebble and any successor projects that might emerge. For the first time, Juneau's famous Mendenhall Glacier is not touching Mendenhall Lake, which was hidden beneath a thick sheet of glacial ice only a couple hundred years ago. Scientists say that means the glacier has entered a new phase of its retreat. Ktooo's Alex Solomon has the story.
- [19:29]
Alex Solomon
Jason Amundsen is a glaciologist at the University of Alaska Southeast who's been studying the Mendenhall Glacier for years. He says it's the symbol of Juneau.
- [19:38]
Casey Grove
And there's several glaciers around, but when someone says the glacier, they're definitely talking about Mendenhall.
- [19:43]
Alex Solomon
Juneau's City hall features a panoramic image of the glacier. It's the most striking part of the landscape that travelers see when they fly into Juneau International Airport. It's the capital city's number one tourist attraction, with more than 700,000 visitors each year. For Generations, the glacier fanned out across the lake that it carved out, but it's been rapidly retreating out of the lake over the past two decades. Now, scientists say it's separated from the water completely. Amundsen flew over the scene in a helicopter about two weeks ago.
- [20:12]
Casey Grove
That was the first time I had really thought, oh, it doesn't look like it's touching the lake anymore. And then there were some photos I saw on Facebook that confirmed it.
- [20:19]
Alex Solomon
But he says the ice and water will probably touch again for brief periods over the coming seasons. Rainfall and snowmelt could cause the lake level to rise up enough to meet the ice. And the ice still pushes toward the lake a fraction in the winter, when gravity pulls on the added mass of the snowpack. Aaron Hood is an environmental scientist at the University of Alaska Southeast. He says that despite these expected seasonal meetups, the Menenhall is functionally no longer a lake terminating glacier.
- [20:46]
Casey Grove
It's clear there's a lot of shallow sediments through there that it's kind of sitting on or even perched up above.
- [20:54]
Kelly Foreman
And so there's just not much chance at this point that it would really.
- [21:00]
Casey Grove
Have meaningful interactions with the lake anymore.
- [21:04]
Alex Solomon
Climate change has accelerated the Glacier's retreat. Between 1941 and 2020, the local mean temperature rose by 2 1/2 degrees Fahrenheit. In recent years, Amundsen says the ice on the lake quickly disappeared.
- [21:17]
Casey Grove
There was pretty rapid retreat that occurred because there was this shallow, pretty thin area of the glacier that was in the lake and that broke apart like where the ice caves used to be.
- [21:27]
Alex Solomon
According to a report by Hood, Amundsen and their colleagues shared with KTOO, the glacier retreated fastest between 2007 and 2011, losing roughly a football field per year. That's because icebergs were calving off at a high rate as the glacier's terminus moved through the deepest part of Menenhall Lake. Now that the ice isn't touching the water, Amundsen says the Mendenhall's retreat could slow down. In the report, the researchers found that parts of the glacier that terminated on rock retreated substantially slower than parts that terminated on the lake.
- [22:00]
Casey Grove
And so once you get out of the lake, it's harder for the glacier to retreat as quickly as it has over the last five, 10, 15 years.
- [22:08]
Alex Solomon
But the glacier is still retreating. Using ice penetrating radar, the researchers are currently trying to predict when it will reach another lake of unknown size and shape that's currently hidden beneath the ice. And one day in the not so distant future, they say the symbol of Juneau will disappear from the vantage point of the U.S. forest Service visitor center that was built to feature a close up scenic vista of the ice. Now it's more than a mile and a half away. Hood says he thinks that will happen sometime around 2050 in Juneau. I'm Alex Solomon.
- [22:39]
Casey Grove
One small farm in Kodiak is embarking on a new mission, providing all the milk from one of its dairy cows to local families who are in need. KMXT's Davis Hovey spoke with the dairy farmer about how it works and how it's going to be funded.
- [22:57]
Kelly Foreman
That's the sound of Kodiak farmer Kelly Foreman pouring gallons of milk that came from her dairy cows into glass bottles.
- [23:04]
Alex Solomon
Milk is such an incredibly nutrient dense, very simple thing for kids. Like a kid can open up the door of the refrigerator, pour themselves milk, and you're good to go.
- [23:14]
Kelly Foreman
Later, her two sons will deliver the bottles to local families in need, about 42 gallons a week. Foreman, who is both a farmer and the executive director of the Kodiak Baptist Mission, calls it milk on a mission.
- [23:26]
Alex Solomon
I also know that every single day this winter I'm going to have milk. No barge is going to keep that away. No empty, no shortages. I know for certain we are going to have this milk. And further, I know that it's the very best quality milk, that full fat, good milk.
- [23:47]
Kelly Foreman
It's grade A certified milk, meaning it's been pasteurized and meets other sanitary standards. Forman also operates the only grade A certified goat dairy in Alaska. She hopes to donate more milk to more people once her third dairy cow is ready to start milking in mid December. Then Forman said she'll donate all of that cow's milk throughout the course of 2026, roughly 2,100 gallons a year. By mid year, she could scale up even more.
- [24:14]
Alex Solomon
Obviously, a cow is going to have a calf. We're going to have three cows having milk and come June, that another cow is going to like she's going to.
- [24:21]
Kelly Foreman
Have a calf, which means a fourth milking cow. And cows can be expensive, especially the feed, the equipment, and the glass jars to bottle the milk in. All of this factors into the final cost of the milk that Forman is going to give away for free. So Forman says she is targeting philanthropic donors or business owners that might have deeper pockets to finance this mission. Her goal is to raise $52,000 by December 15, when the third cow, Ellie Mae, should be ready to start milking. Earlier in November, $5,000 was already donated from donors off island to pay for the Kodiak cow's milk Foreman hopes this will encourage other nonprofits around the country to team with local farmers in their communities to provide milk or food, too.
- [25:05]
Alex Solomon
And always it's been that I really would like to help motivate other people, too. You know, it's never been my goal just to serve Kodiak, you know, and that's part of Kodiak. After this mission, I hopefully want to help inspire other people.
- [25:18]
Kelly Foreman
Right now, Forman provides milk to people mainly by word of mouth. To sign up to receive milk or for more information about milk on a mission, go online to kodiakbaptistmission.com reporting in Kodiak, I'm Davis Hovey.
- [25:44]
Casey Grove
And that's all for this edition of Alaska News Nightly. If you missed any of tonight's stories, we're online@alaskapublic.org and wherever you get your podcasts. We had reports tonight from Liz Ruskin in Washington, D.C. ashlyn O' Hara in Soldotna, Theo Greenlee in Unalaska, Tim Ellis in Delta Junction, Avery Elfelt in Haynes, Alex Solomon in Juneau and Davis Hovey in Kodiak. If you want to send us a news tip, question or comment, email us@newslaskapublic.org Our audio engineer is Crystal Hyde. Madeline Rose is our producer. And I'm Casey Grove. Good night. This is statewide news on Alaska Public Media.