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The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced earlier this week that it had reached a settlement with the operators of the Red Dog Mine for nearly two dozen hazardous waste violations.

“As the years go by, it just got deeper and deeper,” said Luther, who is the environmental coordinator for the Village of Noatak. “The current got more swift in front, and that's when all the havoc started.”

The break is disrupting normal life for many communities above the Arctic Circle — including vital emergency services.The cable connected most of Northwest Alaska. Quintillion, the Alaska-based company that owns the line, says the break primarily affected Nome, Kotzebue, Point Hope, Wainwright and Utqiagvik, as well as the villages of Atqasuk and Nuiqsut.

“There's a lot of barriers related to cost: to start up, to infrastructure, workforce training to be able to pay enough to be able to attract workers,” said Laura Norton-Cruz. “These issues are affecting urban Alaska but even more so in rural communities.”

Foster said his business has grown so fast, it's sometimes difficult to keep up. He still roasts his beans using a small machine that can only handle one pound of beans at a time. Occasionally he gets larger orders from the Red Dog Mine that take several days to fill. He said it’s tough with some of his injuries and working his feet for 12 hours at a time.