Environment

The Kuskokwim River breakup front has shifted downstream to somewhere between Kalskag and Tuluksak. The River Watch team is flying this afternoon to locate the jam and report on river conditions.

The main break up front on the Kuskokwim remains jammed halfway between Crooked Creek and Georgetown. That’s according to an aerial survey from the Kuskokwim River Watch team, which flew from Crooked Creek to below Akiak on Tuesday.

The River Watch team has launched and is flying over the Kuskokwim, surveying ice conditions and monitoring break up. On Monday the team flew from Kalskag to Stony River. 

The Kuskokwim River break up is beginning.

River observer for the National Weather Service, Mark Leary, reports the ice in the north and middle channels above Napaimute have been clearing out and slowly causing shifting in the main channel.

The Napaskiak Tribal Council has closed river travel around its community. Tribal Administrator Sharon Williams says the ice is deteriorating fast. It’s turned to needles, and the slough ice near the village’s airport has shifted.

  The Red Devil Mine is located on the Kuskokwim near the Red Devil Creek between Crooked Creek and Sleetmute.  Mining started in the 1930's, picked up steam in the 50's and 60's but has not operated since the 1970's. The problem is that there's mercury, arsenic, and antimony in the soils left behind by the mining, and the contamination is being released by erosion.

There are no reported injuries from a house fire that destroyed a home in Napaskiak on Wednesday.