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Cold War era communications site could get more clean-up

A cold-war era military communications site on a mountaintop in Duncan Canal could see some more clean-up work in the next few years. The former "White Alice" station on Kupreanof Island, about eight miles west of Petersburg, was built in 1959 and was part of a system used to relay radio communications from Clear, Alaska to Colorado Springs. The former manned station was demolished and had its buildings removed in 1986. The land was transferred to the U.S. Forest Service in 1987. However fuel drums and abandoned vehicles were discovered at the site in 1999 nearer to the beach, and close to several hunting cabins. In 2000, the Air Force removed over 100 dumped fuel barrels from the site. Since then, the Air Force has hired a private contractor, Weston Solutions, to investigate the remaining fuel drums, spilled fuel and chemicals remaining at the site. Jamie Grund works for Weston Solutions and he spoke with Joe Viechnicki about the company's findings.

Another councilor resigns, and one won't seek another term

Spots are opening up on Petersburg’s city council.
Two weeks after a resignation by councilor Sara Stoner, councilor Melinda Hofstad says she’s also stepping down from her seat. Hofstad recorded a radio commentary announcing her resignation Tuesday. Meanwhile, another incumbent councilor Bob Nilsen says he won’t run for re-election this October. At the same time mayor Al Dwyer and council member Ed Sarff say they will seek another term.

Council considers partnering for regional trash effort

Petersburg’s city council Monday took the first step toward joining a fledgling effort for dealing with the region’s trash and recyclable materials. The council approved an ordinance in first reading that would allow Petersburg to take part in a Southeast Alaska Solid Waste Authority with other Panhandle communities.

Stimulus money to fund trail, visitor center upgrades

Federal stimulus money will pay for millions of dollars worth of trail rehabilitation work and visitor center upgrades on the Tongass National Forest. The money will pay for new planking, gravel and bridges on existing hiking and off-road vehicle trails from Ketchikan to Yakutat.

Petersburg seafood catch ranks 26th in 2008

Petersburg ranked 26th among U.S. ports for both the volume and value of its commercial seafood catch last year.
Fishing fleets landed over 34 million pounds of fish and shellfish in Petersburg in 2008. The catch was worth just under $27 million. It’s a big drop from the year before that saw Petersburg ranked 18th in volume of catch and 16th in dollar value.
As recently as 2004, Petersburg’s fleet caught part of the region’s record setting salmon runs and ranked as high as 12th in the nation with a catch topping 102 million pounds. The biggest annual harvest in the past two decades in Petersburg came in 1994, when the fleet caught 126 million pounds.
The top port in the nation last year was Dutch Harbor and Unalaska, totaling 612 million pounds of fish and shellfish. It’s the 20th year in a row for Dutch Harbor to earn that title
The port with the highest value catch was New Bedford, Massachusetts, with a harvest worth over 241 million dollars. It was the ninth year in a row for New Bedford to top the nation’s ports for value.
Nationwide, landings dropped a billion pounds from the year before but the value of the nation’s catch actually increased by 200 million dollars.