KNBA Morning Newscast For Thursday July 23, 2015
Shell Permit
By Ellen Lockyer, KSKA
Federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement Director Brian Salerno on Wednesday announced that Shell has received conditional approval of two Applications for Permits to Drill to conduct limited exploratory drilling activities in the Chukchi Sea.
The permits limit Shell to drilling only the top sections of wells and prohibit Shell from drilling into oil-bearing zones.
The limitations on drilling in oil bearing zones are linked to a requirement for a capping stack, a piece of equipment used in emergency response to shut a well down if necessary.
Shell's capping stack is staged on the vessel Fennica, which was damaged, and is now on the way to Portland for repairs.
Shell may submit an application to modify the restriction on the limited permits if and when the Fennica and the capping stack are deployed in the Chukchi Sea.
The current limited permits also require Shell to put fifteen miles between actuve drill rigs to protect walrus in the region.
Port Heiden reindeer
By Hannah Colton, KDLG
29 reindeer have arrived in Port Heiden, where the village of 100 is re-establishing a long-dormant tradition of reindeer herding. In a few years they hope to begin harvesting the deer as a sustainable food source for the community.
Learning to herd reindeer is a full-time job for teenagers Jake Carlson and Lillionna Kosbruk.
“Yeah, every day, eight hours, besides weekends," said Carlson.
“Sometimes we have to herd them in a certain area of the pen, I dunno – it’s a lot of running," said Kosbruk.
They’re learning their new trade from Fred Goodhope Jr., a traditional herder who was hired by the village of Port Heiden to help them get started.
“Yeah this is Fred, I’m the reindeer herder. I’m from Shishmaref, Alaska. I been reindeer herding since I was ten years old, and I’m a third-generation reindeer herder,” said Goodhope.
The Port Heiden reindeer came as air cargo from Stebbins/St. Michaels. At the end of that 480-mile journey, they were delivered into Goodhope’s practiced hands.
His first challenge was to nurse them back to health.
“Some of ‘em came in kinda lame, kinda hurt… lot of them were dehydrated, you could tell they’d been without nourishing food because they were in a holding pen,” said Goodhope.
The reindeer have plenty of room to graze in their new pen. But Goodhope says it won’t be long until they outgrow
“It’s gonna be a problem later on, with overgrazing… by then we’re gonna have them going in and out of the gate,” said Goodhope.
Then there’s the danger of bears and wolves getting into the pen.
But more than predators or overgrazing, what worries Goodhope the most is caribou.
“Actually, the worst enemy to a reindeer is a caribou,” said Goodhope.
Goodhope says if the reindeer meet a herd of their wilder cousins while grazing outside the pen, they’ll mingle and even interbreed. And then when the caribou move on, the reindeer will up and follow them.
He lost one of his own herds that way years ago up on the Seward Peninsula.
“Last time I seen my reindeer was 1997. It was a sad thing, to learn that they walked away,” said Goodhope.
Goodhope and his apprentices are hoping to avoid that fate in Port Heiden. They plan to keep their reindeer under control with the help of herder dogs.
“They have a little litter of dogs that they’re gonna train as pups… and then once you train the pups, they’ll be able to acclimate them with the reindeer,” said Goodhope.
Goodhope only has a few months to pass on his herding knowledge before he heads back north for fall hunting.
Kosbruk and Carlson should be able to handle things by then. And they’ll start teaching the age-old practice of husbandry to others in the village.
“Yes, I was gonna be involved in teaching the kids about the reindeer and involving them as much as we can,” said Goodhope.
“I’ve always wanted to work with animals… and I can say that I’ve worked with reindeer. I dunno, it just seems like a cool thing,” said Goodhope.
In another month, school will start back up. The two teenagers will have to take reindeer duty on nights and weekends, perhaps like their great-great-grandparents did years ago. They both say they’re in it for the long haul.
Alcohol Facility rebuild
By Ben Matheson, KYUK
The skeleton of the new PATC Alcohol Treatment Center is coming up quickly and aims to be closed in for a winter of work. Kris Manke is director of construction for the Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corporation, which is leading up the project. He says about 15 crewmembers are working now, including close to 70 percent local Alaska Native hire.
“We do all of our own electrical, mechanical, framing, siding, we self perform all of that,” said Manke.
The 12-million dollar, 16-thousand square foot facility is under construction for a second time following a fire in October that destroyed it when it was 90-percent framed in. YKHC doesn’t want to take chances the second time. A chain link fence surrounds the site and a 24-hour security team stand watch. Big floodlights shine at the building at night. Manke says having to start from scratch is hard on his team.
“It was hard for me because they all are my guys, but for the guys who were actually building it, we should ask them the question. It’s gotta be really hard, I mean guys were crying when they saw their work burning up that night,” said Manke.
YKHC is offering a $20,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest or conviction of those responsible for the fire that destroyed the PATC alcohol treatment center. YKHC says it was a criminal act that started the blaze last October during construction.