Environment

The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation reported the spill of up to 400,000 gallons of water used at a large lead and zinc mine in Northern Alaska early Wednesday. According to the department, the spill of “process water” occurred at about 2:30 a.m. at the Red Dog Mine, located around 80 miles north of Kotzebue.

A magnitude 5.1 earthquake on March 13, around 50 miles north of Ambler, was the largest in the state that week. And the day before, a magnitude 5 struck near Point Hope.Researchers say that's unusual. In the “seismically quiet” northern regions of Alaska, earthquakes of this magnitude typically occur, on average, 2-3 years apart.

Rob Rosenfeld, a consultant for several tribes that oppose the project, believes the Corps dragged its feet and should have killed the 404 permitting after the Biden administration rejected the project in June. Rosenfeld said the Corps' inaction went against the wishes of 88 tribal governments that oppose the project.

Officials said the flooding destroyed Kotzebue’s dock, several roads and bridges and dozens of structures at multiple subsistence camps. The force of the storm also transported four large dumpsters to a sandbar in Kotzebue’s lagoon. City officials said two homes were also destroyed, displacing a family of six and a disabled elder.

Many residents posted on social media about the flooding – with one lifelong resident who lives by Kotzebue’s sea wall calling the flooding “the highest water (they’ve) ever seen.” Residents also reported flooding near the community’s hospital, lagoon, teacher housing and the northside of town.

“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.

According to the press release, ice was the culprit. The severed cable is about 30 miles from Oliktok Point in Prudhoe Bay — and 90 feet beneath the ice.In Kotzebue, the outage is affecting the local government operations. The City of Kotzebue is experiencing a “complete outage” to all departments. And the Northwest Arctic Borough says their telephone and internet services are down.

Kotzebue City Manager Tessa Baldwin said the city has a three-person crew working “around the clock,” but snow and high winds are disrupting some of the city's key infrastructure, causing power outages and a city-wide boil water notice.

The spill was reported just past midnight Tuesday morning, when a local resident posted photos to Facebook, said Kimberly Maher, a spokeswoman for the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation.