KYUK AM

Environment

Environmental stories that take place in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.

Polk Home Burns In Bethel; No Injuries Reported

By • Oct 1, 2019
Katie Basile / KYUK

A fire has consumed a house in Bethel. The fire started sometime before 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 1. The house, commonly referred to as the “Polk Home," is located on the road to H-Marker Lake. Acting City Manager Bill Howell said that there were no injuries and no fatalities reported and that the Bethel Fire Department has the fire under control. 

'It Felt Like We Were All Connected.' Akiak Teen Returns From U.N. Climate Summit

By • Sep 27, 2019
Carl Smith, age 17, and his mother, Kimberly Smith of Akiak, returned to the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta after traveling to New York City.
Anna Rose MacArthur / KYUK

This week, 16 young people from a dozen countries filed a legal complaint about climate change with the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child. The complaint alleges that five G20 countries are violating children’s rights by failing to curb fossil fuel emissions to try to restrain the climate crisis. The youth filed their complaint in New York City during the same week that the United Nations convened for its Climate Action Summit. One of the teenage petitioners traveled to the event from the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.


Season's First Snow Falls On Lower Yukon River Community

By • Sep 26, 2019

Snow has come to the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. In Emmonak, resident Lilly Westlock estimates that over an inch fell on Tuesday evening.

Akiak Teenager Files Complaint Alleging Climate Inaction Violates Children's Rights

By • Sep 25, 2019
Akiak receives funding to move the 6 homes closest to the eroding riverbank.
Greg Kim / KYUK

Sixteen young people from a dozen countries filed a legal complaint about climate change with the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child. The petitioners range in age from eight to 17. Their complaint alleges that five countries, Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany, and Turkey, are violating children’s rights by failing to curb fossil fuel emissions and reduce the effects of the climate crisis. The youth filed their complaint the same week the United Nations is convening for its Climate Action Summit in New York City. One of the petitioners comes from the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.


Typhoon Morphs Into Fall Storm Expected To Hit Kuskokwim Delta

By • Sep 10, 2019
Screen shot from the National Weather Service Anchorage Office on September 10, 2019 showing current hazards. Purple means storm warning.
National Weather Service

A fall storm forming over the Bering Sea is expected to hit the coasts of the Kuskokwim Delta and Bristol Bay on Wednesday. The National Weather Service predicts that the storm will strike hardest on Wednesday with driving winds and heavy rainfall, and taper into showers and breezes by Thursday.

Akiak Receives Funding To Move 6 Homes Closest To Eroding Riverbank

By • Sep 3, 2019
Akiak receives funding to move the 6 homes closest to the eroding riverbank.
Greg Kim / KYUK

Money is arriving to help move some buildings in Akiak to safer ground. Last week, the village of Akiak received funding to move the six homes closest to the eroding riverbank. One of those homes is within 20 feet of the water. 

Dealing With Erosion Is Complicated. Who Can Help?

By • Aug 30, 2019
The high-water erosion event in May, 2019 swallowed 75 to 100 feet of Akiak's riverbank.
Ivan Ivan / City of Akiak

The village of Akiak has submitted its hazard mitigation plan to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. That makes Akiak eligible for the larger-than-usual hazard mitigation funding that Alaska has available this year, due to the Nov. 2018 earthquake in the southcentral part of the state. But how did Akiak know to take advantage of that? They had some unique help.


U.S. Coast Guard Says Napakiak Erosion 'Occurred Faster Than We Could Have Anticipated'

By • Aug 22, 2019
People ride on a four wheeler in front of the Napakiak school fuel tanks, which sit 76 feet from the Kuskokwim River following accelerating erosion. Pictured here on August 8, 2019.
Katie Basile / KYUK

The U.S. Coast Guard calls the Napakiak school fuel tanks an “environmental hazard” to the Kuskokwim River and has ordered the fuel’s removal. An officer says that the Coast Guard could not issue the order until the situation got serious enough.


DEC Joins US Coast Guard In Overseeing Transfer Of Napakiak Fuel Threatened By River

By • Aug 20, 2019
The Napakiak School fuel storage facility sits 76 feet from the riverbank’s erosion point along the Kuskokwim River on Aug. 16, 2019. The fuel storage facility, owned by the Lower Kuskokwim School District, contains an estimated 36,000 gallons of diesel.
U.S. Coast Guard Sector Anchorage

The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation is watching the situation developing with threatened fuel tanks at Napakiak. The U.S. Coast Guard ordered the Lower Kuskokwim School District to move the school’s estimated 36,000 gallons of diesel fuel away from the eroding Kuskokwim riverbank by the end of the month. DEC will determine if more action is needed to treat the site.

U.S. Coast Guard Gave LKSD Two Weeks To Move Napakiak Fuel. LKSD Says It Can Do It.

By • Aug 20, 2019
People ride on a four wheeler in front of the Napakiak school fuel tanks, which sit 76 feet from the Kuskokwim River following accelerating erosion. Pictured here on August 8, 2019.
Katie Basile / KYUK

The U.S. Coast Guard has given the Lower Kuskokwim School District until the end of the month to remove the diesel fuel from its Napakiak school fuel tanks. The tanks hold about 36,000 gallons of fuel and are sitting less than 100 feet from the eroding Kuskokwim River bank. Both the Coast Guard and LKSD are confident that the school district can meet the deadline.


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