Photo by Nikolai Ivanoff SUNSHINE AND ICE—A cabin along the Nome-Council Highway stares out at the extensive sea ice anchored to the coast east of Nome. C VOLUME CVIII NO. 19 MAY 14, 2009 EPA violations cost NovaGold nearly $900,000 Fine covers sediment releases into three area creeks during mine’s construction By Tyler Rhodes sions by discharging storm water The owner and operator of the into Rock Creek, Lindblom Creek Rock Creek Mine has agreed to set- and Glacier Creek in violation of tle with the federal government to state water quality standards,” reads the tune of nearly $900,000 for envi- a statement from the U.S. Depart- ronmental violations. ment of Justice. “The companies also According to a U.S. District Court failed to adequately prepare and up- filing May 12, NovaGold Resources date a storm water pollution preven- Inc. has entered into a settlement tion plan and failed to implement and agreement with the Environmental maintain best management practices Protection Agency for what it alleges to control the discharges.” were Clean Water Act violations. The Alaska Gold Co. is a subsidiary of settlement, subject to a public com- NovaGold. The Rock Creek Mine has ment period and court approval, calls sat idle since last fall after NovaGold Photo by Tyler Rhodes for the Canadian mining firm to pay decided to suspend production due to SCARY STORY—Jamison Thrun reads the tale he wrote about a werewolf at the Young Authors’ Show- the federal government $883,628. mechanical and financial shortcomings. case May 6 at the Nome Elementary School commons. Thrun hid the disguised half of his face until the “From April 2007 until September According to Eva DeMaria, a story’s end, which warned of the creature’s continued presence in the area. 2008, Alaska Gold and NovaGold vi- olated their permit on multiple occa- continued on page 4 Wind and sun put the arctic on thin ice By Sandra L. Medearis These changes come from varia- pushed increasing interest in the sound policies for use of arctic re- ice will not be easy to reverse, Eicken Sea ice grows and shrinks each year tions in the amount of sun reaching north and its resources, raising pos- sources undergoing changing access. said, but we can learn about the pat- in the arctic, with the most coverage in the surface, as well as the amount of sible conflicts in geopolitics. “We have to think about overlapping terns and rates for thin ice or its utter March at the end of the cold, dark pe- solar energy being absorbed and re- Ice expert and professor Hajo uses of the northern waters and plan for disappearance that affects subsistence riod, and the most open water in fall. flected off the water. A change in wind Eicken of the University of Alaska conflicting uses,” Eicken said. animals, brings change in lifestyles In the last several years, the ice patterns lately also shoves ice around Fairbanks addressed these concerns in Recent years have shown smaller and raises transportation and interna- has thinned or totally melted at in patterns that affect ice formation. his lecture May 6 at the UAF North- amounts of sea ice, making some sci- tional territorial issues. The science record rates. This year, satellite ob- Yeah, OK, so why do we give a west Campus in Nome. Eicken and entists to think the Arctic Ocean may community, in partnership with north- servation shows that thinner new ice rat? Shrinking sea ice affects animals other scientists outside of Alaska have be totally without ice in summer ern communities, hopes to gain is replacing old, thicker ice, enabling and people, including negative af- been working with International Polar sometime later this century, although knowledge to share and predict effects various forces to continue to erode fects on subsistence lifestyles. Sea Year and National Science Foundation ice will continue to form on the Arc- to enable northern people to plan and the shield that keeps arctic water ice affects global climates. Changing to determine what sorts of information tic Ocean in winter. from warming. sea ice and navigation patterns have communities and industry need to form The thinning and receding of the continued on page 9 Harvey joins police department, Erickson named ambulance chief By Laurie McNicholas upon recommendation of the NVAD. Erickson the hearing in a newspaper. The application fee FY 2010 Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) Pro- Nicholas Harvey was sworn in as Police Of- succeeds Charlie Lean, who recently resigned is $200 if the hearing is held during a regular gram by the Alaska Department of Commerce, ficer I at the Nome Common Council meeting from the post. commission meeting, or $300 if the commission Community and Economic Development was Monday night. He has worked as a Nome Po- The council approved a recommendation by calls a special meeting for the hearing. adopted by the council. The DCCED distrib- lice Department dispatcher since July 2008. the Nome Planning Commission to charge a fee The council adopted a resolution to approve utes PILT payments to cities in the unorganized Proud family members attending the ceremony to ask permission of the NPC to use land for pur- a contract with Resource Data Inc., to perform borough that contain certain federally-owned included his mother, Sandy Harvey. poses other than its zoning designation under the workflow and business requirements for the lands known as “entitlement lands.” PILT pay- A resolution confirming the appointment of City’s new land use law. The process involves a City Clerk and Finance Department. The FY ments to local governments are intended to Vickie Erickson as Volunteer Chief of the public hearing on a conditional use permit ap- 2009 budget provides $9,000 to retain the serv- help offset losses in property taxes due to non- Nome Volunteer Ambulance Department with a plication conducted by the commission after the ices of a computer software professional to as- taxable federal lands within their boundaries. monthly stipend of $500 was unanimously ap- City prepares a hearing notice for posting on the sist with conversion of property tax and sales The federal PILT formula calculates pay- proved by the council. City Manager Josie applicant’s property, notifies adjacent property tax records to a computerized system. Bahnke appointed Erickson to the position owners of the hearing and publishes notice of A resolution to request distribution from the continued on page 9 Visit the Nugget on line at www.nomenugget.net e-mail [email protected] 2 THURSDAY, MAY 14, 2009 EDUCATION THE NOME NUGGET Enrollment continues to decline: School district requests level funding from City for FY 2010 budget By Laurie McNicholas den drops in enrollment. Nome for FY 2010. “We know there flow through grants. ing to reduce energy costs. Luthi A drastic decline in students en- “The State gave us help by fund- are a lot of economic question marks Martens emphasized that the cited current work to reinsulate the rolled at Nome Public Schools dur- ing students we don’t have,” Luthi out there and we know we must do $371,000 in fiscal stabilization entire downstairs level of the 14-plex ing the current school year is said, adding that the Department of our best,” he said. “We don’t know funds can be used to supplement but on the Nome-Beltz High School reflected in the district’s budget for Education will again provide some if the 659 [student enrollment pro- not supplant other revenues. She campus. Replacing the elementary the coming year, NPS Superintend- help to NPS in FY 2010. He said jection] will hold in the fall. We tried anticipates a requirement to place school boiler will save a lot of en- ent Rick Luthi told the Nome Com- the State’s “hold harmless” assis- to be conservative. We don’t know them in a revenue fund separate ergy, Martens pointed out. Luthi re- mon Council at a work session on tance is available to a district for a the future. We hope the price of fuel from the NPS general fund so they ported that Margaret Thomas, Monday. He said the NPS FY 2010 maximum of three years. Luthi will hold.” can be tracked closely. Luthi sug- formerly employed at the elementary budget is based on a projected en- credited NPS Business Manager Council member Mary Knodel gested using the stabilization funds school, has moved to the district of- rollment of 659 students, compared Jenny Martens and Assistant Super- asked whether Luthi knows the to replace the boiler at Nome Ele- fice to help identify and contact po- to the anticipated enrollment of 731 intendent Jon Wehde with trimming amount of federal economic stimulus mentary School. tential funding sources for energy students on which the FY 2009 expenses to balance the FY 2009 funds the district will receive. Knodel asked how much NPS will saving projects. budget was based. budget and for developing an FY Martens said NPS expects to receive receive under the State’s education Knodel noted that the NPS FY Only 699 students actually en- 2010 budget that helps shield class- $60,000 in Title I funds, $178,000 funding formula. Based on an en- 2010 budget indicates the mainte- rolled in NPS in September 2008, re- rooms from the impacts of cost-cut- for K-12 special education, $10,000 rollment of 659 students, Martens nance supervisor position will disap- sulting in a $500,000 shortfall in the ting. Wehde will succeed Luthi as for preschool special education, said the district will receive approx- pear, and she asked whether Charles FY 2009 budget as the school year NPS superintendent in July.