Alix Soliman

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Juneau’s avalanche forecasters are gearing up for winter. The state Department of Transportation and the local electric utility re-installed scientific instruments to help them predict avalanche risk at their largest research site in town. 

Last month, avalanche forecaster Mike Janes rode the Goldbelt Tram, pulled on a harness and climbed a metal weather tower on the north-facing slope of Mount Roberts in the pouring rain.

“It gives us a baseline,” Janes said about the research site. “Here’s what the snowpack at this elevation in a sheltered area is doing.” 

Janes works at Alaska Electric Light & Power. He sets up sensors that will help predict the threat of avalanches once Juneau’s famous rain turns to snow. 

Mount Roberts and Mount Juneau loom over downtown. The steep slopes are marked by avalanches and landslides; their history is written in vertical chutes and tree rings. Avalanches are frequent in Juneau, but only a few have been disastrous. 

In 1962, an avalanche hit dozens of homes in the Behrends Neighborhood downtown. In 2008, a massive avalanche took out AEL&P’s main power line to Juneau, forcing the city to rely on diesel generators for two months. Since then, the utility has built barriers to protect its energy infrastructure from future slides. 

Janes said avalanches occur when a weak, unstable layer of snow forms, causing the layers of snow that accumulate on top to slide off. The instruments he installs on Mount Roberts will help him understand when that weak layer forms and where in the snowpack it is. 

Watch a video about avalanche forecasting in Juneau:

First, Janes attached a snow height sensor to a pole about 15 feet up the tower. It sends down sound waves, which bounce off the snow and back to the sensor, measuring the snowpack’s height. 

Then, he hung a string vertically from the tower that has nodes spaced 10 centimeters apart. That measures the various temperatures throughout layers of snow.

Next, Janes pointed to an instrument sticking off the side of the weather tower.

“That right up there — probably one of our most important instruments — that white cylinder with the black top,” he said. “That’s a heated tipping bucket, and that measures precipitation.”

It’s heated to melt snow, so forecasters can measure how much water is in the snowpack. Two more are lodged down the slope to measure water that’s melting beneath the snowpack.

Then he pointed to a small double-cylinder sensor called a net radiation meter. 

“That particular sensor is important for understanding when we’re getting weak layers forming at the surface that are going to become problems later,” he said. 

Earth gives off heat called long-wave radiation, which travels up through the snow and air and gets reflected back down to Earth by clouds that act as a thermal blanket. But on a clear night, that heat escapes into the atmosphere and can cause the top layer of snow to cool quickly, creating a sugar-like surface. 

“If that stuff gets buried, then it becomes like a future weak layer that avalanches can run on,” Janes said. 

This year, AEL&P, the Alaska Department of Transportation and other agencies will feed all of this data, and more, into a Swiss snowpack model. 

Patrick Dryer is an avalanche and geohazard specialist at DOT. He said using the Swiss model could help Alaskans better predict how layers of snow are forming at high elevations.

“That’s especially relevant in Alaska, where we have limited high elevation monitoring sites, but we have miles of roadway that we’re forecasting for,” Dryer said. 

He said using the emerging technology can help them make more informed decisions. Those decisions include things like setting off explosives to trigger avalanches before they become destructive, or putting barriers up to protect infrastructure in areas where avalanches happen frequently. 

But Dryer said there’s a lot of variability between where they collect data and all of the places where avalanches can occur. Plus, snow dynamics change, so no prediction is perfect. 

Learn more about the history of avalanches in Juneau with KTOO’s series, Alaska’s Avalanche Capital.

Alaska might soon regulate its own hazardous waste if the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency authorizes the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation’s new hazardous waste program.

Alaska is one of only two U.S. states without an authorized program, the other being Iowa. That means the EPA regulates the generation, storage and disposal of the state’s hazardous waste. 

Lori Aldrich, the manager of the state’s new hazardous waste program, said the team consists of six DEC employees, including her, who have been training to take on the responsibility for the past three years. If the program gets federal approval, she said the team will take the lead on permitting, inspections and clean-ups instead of the EPA. 

“Honestly, for Alaska, it doesn’t mean that much change, except that you’re going to have somebody at ADEC here to call,” Aldrich said.

The state Legislature adopted new hazardous waste regulations in 2023 that went into effect this summer. For the most part, the state’s rules now mirror the federal rules under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.

According to the most recent EPA data, 2,729 tons of hazardous waste were generated in Alaska in 2023. The three largest producers were the Petro Star Valdez Refinery, Eielson Air Force Base — a Superfund site in Fairbanks — and a company that handles hazardous waste and spills. Together, they were responsible for 57% of the hazardous waste generated in Alaska that year.

Aldrich said Alaska’s generation rate is quite low compared to most other states, and one reason is that petroleum, on its own, is not categorized as hazardous waste. 

She said businesses commonly toss things like cleaning solvents, paint and oil contaminated with other chemicals, which are hazardous wastes. Some things are hazardous due to their toxicity, while others are hazardous because of how they react. 

For instance, “cylinder gas is a hazardous waste if you’re throwing it away, because it could blow up,” Aldrich said.

She said that if the program gets approved, her team will start with a lot of outreach to educate Alaskans about what counts as hazardous waste. 

“Getting people to manage it properly and to make sure that it’s not impacting health or environment here in Alaska is what’s the most important part of our job,” she said.

Aldrich said that almost all of the hazardous waste in Alaska is shipped to disposal facilities in the Lower 48, and that her team would only be in charge of the waste when it’s within state boundaries. 

The public comment period on the state’s application to the EPA is open until December 8.

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View Drive is the street hardest-hit by Juneau’s annual glacial outburst flood, and remains unprotected by the city’s temporary levee. The Juneau Assembly is hoping to avoid paying a portion of the cost for a federal program that would offer buyouts to those residents.

A federal buyout for View Drive would pay residents to leave, demolish their homes and transform the land into a park. But first, the city has to decide whether to sponsor it. At this point, it’s not clear if the Assembly will vote to do so. 

Mayor Beth Weldon was cautious at Thursday’s special Assembly meeting, where experts presented the city’s options.  

“I don’t think anybody’s ready to commit to anything tonight,” she said.

Brett Nelson is Alaska’s conservation engineer at the Natural Resources Conservation Service, or NRCS. The federal agency oversees a recovery buyout program. At the meeting, he explained that the City and Borough of Juneau would be responsible for 25% of the cost. 

If all 18 eligible properties participated, it would cost an estimated $25 million. That means the city would be on the hook for up to around $6 million. But he says it’s unlikely every household would take the deal.

The Assembly voted unanimously to request a waiver to pay. Nelson said it’s worth making the request, but he’s not sure it’s realistic that NRCS headquarters would approve it. 

“I’ll say this: it is not very often used,” Nelson said.

If the cost is not waived, the city could seek funding from other sources besides Juneau taxpayers, such as nonprofits. But there is one restriction on the city’s portion:

“The 25% cannot be from another federal source unless that other federal source comes with congressional language specifically indicating that it can be used as a match for federal dollars,” Nelson said.

He said it would take around a year to complete the process and that the agency would prefer to offer the buyout option to residents before the next flood, which is expected next summer. 

“This is an emergency program and we’d like to move as expeditiously as possible,” he said.

If the city does take on the project, NRCS will appraise the 18 homes on View Drive and then residents will choose whether to take the deal or stay. Nelson says there are two appraisal options: they can be done based on the value now, or as of the day before the 2024 flood — and the agency is leaning toward the latter.

That appraisal decision will apply to every eligible property and affect the overall price tag of the project, since homes are worth more before they’ve been damaged by repeated flooding. 

Engineers say that while a couple of properties on View Drive might benefit from a barrier, the whole street can’t be protected by the HESCO barriers that make up the temporary levee protecting most other Valley neighborhoods.

Mike Records is a hydraulic engineer at the Army Corps. He compared the hazard of putting HESCO barriers on View Drive to the danger of a mariner taking a dinghy across Lynn Canal during a storm. 

“View Drive basically sits on a moraine from the retreat of the Mendenhall Glacier, so that moraine is extremely porous,” Records said.

He said that means water would seep under a temporary levee and form a pool. That’s what happened to a property at the end of the street where residents decided to erect their own berm ahead of the flood this August.

“You’re building a reservoir — potential reservoir  — with homes in the middle and no way out,” Records said, referring to how View Drive is a dead-end street with a single entry and exit point.

He said he recognizes that it’s unfair not to protect View Drive residents who’ve faced flooding over and over, and that they’re in a “horrible situation.” But from an engineering perspective, he said the only way to protect households that decide to stay is to implement a long-term flood solution. 

Nelson says parcels that get bought out become restricted from development forever, so households that participate in the program couldn’t return to their former properties — even after a long-term solution is built. He says NRCS has already determined View Drive is eligible for a buyout and that federal funding would likely be available soon after the government shutdown ends, if the city decides to sponsor it.

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The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced Thursday that it will pay the full cost to extend and repair Juneau’s temporary river levee meant to protect almost all Mendenhall Valley neighborhoods from glacial outburst floods in the near-term. And it will expedite its process to choose a long-term solution that will protect the entire Valley. 

The existing temporary levee is made of HESCO barriers — steel and mesh baskets filled with sand. It protected hundreds of homes from flooding by a slim margin during the record-breaking glacial outburst flood in August. At a special Juneau Assembly meeting Thursday, members signed an agreement accepting assistance from the Army Corps to enhance the temporary levee. 

After signing the agreement, Mayor Beth Weldon referenced a quip Assembly member Ella Adkison made moments before. 

“The Army Corps is going to do phase two and pay for it. So we truly appreciate the assistance, and as Miss Atkison says, there’s no take-backs,” Weldon said.

The agreement expands the levee both upstream and downstream, protecting many more homes and businesses along Mendenhall River. Phase 2 will go from Back Loop Bridge to just before Juneau International Airport. The city estimates the expansion will cost around $19 million to build. The agreement means the city will no longer have to debate controversial ways to pay for construction.

Daryl Downing, program manager at the Seattle District of the Army Corps, says the agency will cover HESCO design and installation, as well as armoring the banks. 

“What is not covered is going to be any sort of outreach the City and Borough of Juneau will need to do to secure rights of entry or any permitting requirements for these efforts,” Downing said. “Once the Corps installs these measures, they get turned over to the City and Borough of Juneau for operations and maintenance, and then removal as well.”

The Army Corps will also help repair the existing stretch of the flood barrier, which leaked and slumped during the flood this summer — sustaining about a million dollars in damage — and build it higher for the next flood. 

The agency aims to complete that work by July 15, 2026. For reference, the glacial outburst flood has struck during the first two weeks of August in each of the past three years. 

None of this funding will retroactively cover the cost to build Phase 1 of the levee — which is estimated at around $6 million. The Assembly passed a controversial funding scheme called a local improvement district, or LID, earlier this year to split 40% of the cost among more than 400 homeowners in the flood zone. 

At Thursday’s meeting, the Assembly voted not to close out the Phase 1 LID. The only Assembly member who objected was Nano Brooks. He asked if it would be possible to use some funds from the recently reappropriated $5 million that was pulled from the Capital Civic Center to reduce the residents’ portion. 

City Manager Katie Koester said that money could be used to care for future repairs and maintenance of the HESCO barriers. 

“In the end, it’s really your decision how much you want to use taxpayer dollars versus property owner dollars,” Koester said. 

Long-term solution in sight

The Army Corps made another major announcement Thursday.  It aims to finish its technical report, recommend a long-term flood solution, and design it by the end of May 2026. That’s several years faster than the process agency staff outlined at a public meeting in July.

John Rajek is the chief of the geotechnical and engineering services branch at the Alaska District of the Army Corps. 

“We plan on developing a preliminary design of the preferred flood control alternative, we’re going to prepare a planning-level cost estimate that’s going to help everybody understand the financial implications and basically help make informed decisions on the path forward,” Rajek said. “And then the third element is, we’re going to complete a draft environmental assessment of that alternative.”

Those options are a dam, a permanent levee, a bypass channel along the river, a tunnel to drain Suicide Basin or relocating buildings from the flood zone. 

Rajek says that in December, the Army Corps will hold a charette — a major planning meeting with federal and local agencies — to discuss the options and pick one.

Anonymous sources engaged in the agency’s process told KTOO that a tunnel through Bullard Mountain to drain Suicide Basin looks like the preferred option at this point, but Army Corps staff refused to comment. 

The Army Corps is seeking public comment on the long-term solution, which closes at the end of next month. The public affairs office requests comments to be submitted to public.affairs3@usace.army.mil.

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The City and Borough of Juneau’s planning commission approved Juneau Hydropower’s permit to build its Sweetheart Lake hydroelectric project at a meeting on Tuesday night.

Duff Mitchell is the managing director of Juneau Hydropower. He said in an interview that this is one of the last permits the new utility needed before breaking ground.

“This is very strong momentum for us, for us meeting our timeline of being in construction next year,” Mitchell said.

It’s been a long time coming. Mitchell started the process more than 15 years ago. 

The proposed Sweetheart Lake hydroelectric project would grow Juneau’s hydropower capacity by 19.8 megawatts. That’s enough to increase the borough’s electricity by around 20%. It would bring renewable energy to rural parts of Juneau — including Coeur’s Kensington Mine, which burns roughly 4.5 million gallons of diesel per year. 

Mitchell said at the meeting that getting the mine on renewable power benefits Juneau. 

“We got mines that want lower-cost power,” he said. “Those mines create not only the jobs, but they also pay our schools through the property tax, and so extending the lives of those mines through lowering their cost of power helps our community.”

He said the project will also provide the capital city with energy security and room to expand industries. 

Next steps

Mitchell estimates it will cost $270 million to build.

“So the fun part starts now, which is completing our financing,” he said.

He said that he’s seeking a loan through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utility Service that could finance 75% of the project, if approved. He’s also pursuing investment tax credits, which can be sold for cash and could finance a portion of the project.

To shuttle power to Kensington Mine, the company must build several pieces of major infrastructure. Mitchell said the company will start by digging a tunnel that starts near the outlet of Sweetheart Creek at Gilbert Bay and runs up to Lower Sweetheart Lake, around 35 miles southeast of downtown Juneau. 

“We will drive equipment and man and gear and everything else up there to build the intakes, to build the dam, to build the diversion tunnel, and all of the equipment and everything that we need to operate Sweetheart Dam in the Sweetheart Lake,” he said.

Then, he plans to use the tunnel to convey water to the turbines that generate electricity. The company plans to install substations, transmission lines and submarine cables simultaneously. He also plans to build a battery energy storage system to serve as a backup power source if an avalanche or other interruption cuts electricity. It would be charged by surplus hydropower.

Juneau Hydropower is contracting with Ameresco, a company that builds energy infrastructure, and David Burlingame, an electrical engineer with companies based in Anchorage, to design and construct it. Mitchell said around 200 workers will be needed to build it, and he would prefer to use local labor. 

Energy needs

Juneau Hydropower’s only contracted customer so far is Kensington Mine. But Mitchell has a “build it and they will come” mentality, so he’s confident that more customers will emerge. 

“So every interruptible customer is an unmet demand — they can be burned onto diesel,” he said at the meeting. “For every dock that’s not electrified, that is an unmet demand.”

Mitchell said he could also supply power to the proposed ferry terminal at Cascade Point, if that comes to fruition, and to any cell service company that wants to bring to life the dead zones at the northern end of the borough.

But Juneau Hydropower and Alaska Electric Light & Power each have their own service territories where they are allowed to sell electricity. To electrify a cruise ship dock, mine, or other customer within AEL&P’s territory, Juneau Hydropower would have to enter into an agreement with the utility and sell them the energy. 

The only commissioner, out of eight, who voted no to approving the conditional use permit was Nina Keller. She said she isn’t sure there is demand for more hydropower.

“I just am not convinced that where we are now, and looking at any forecasts that we have seen that recently came out with where Juneau is going in terms of population, I just don’t see the need, as (of) like today, for it,” she said.

The permit that the city issued has two conditions. First, the company needs to submit photo proof of a barrier to block sound and light from the powerhouse near Sweetheart Creek to protect local wildlife and recreational users. Second, the company needs to get a flood zone development permit. Mitchell said he’s confident he will fulfill both requirements. 

He said Juneau Hydropower could start offering electricity as early as 2028. 

Correction: a photo caption has been updated to remove a former funder that is no longer part of the project. 

Juneau plans to expand its temporary levee along the Mendenhall River, in part by using money originally intended for a new arts and culture center. 

An ordinance passed unanimously at Monday’s Assembly meeting will allow the city to help protect more homes and businesses from annual glacial outburst flooding by pulling $5 million from the proposed Capital Civic Center. 

The current levee is made of HESCO barriers — steel and mesh baskets filled with sand. It protected hundreds of homes from flooding by a slim margin during the record-breaking glacial outburst flood in August. 

Deputy City Manager Robert Barr said at the meeting that $4 million of the reallocation will go toward Phase 2 of the levee project. 

“These funds would contribute toward ongoing overall protection costs like site preparation, armoring, environmental installation and legal for HESCO barrier installation along (parts of) the Mendenhall River that do not currently have barriers,” Barr said. 

Phase 2 would expand the levee both upstream and downstream, so it would stretch from Back Loop Bridge to just before Juneau International Airport. The city estimates the expansion would cost around $19 million to build. 

The other $1 million pulled from the Capital Civic Center will be used to repair and maintain the existing stretch of HESCO barriers, which leaked, slumped and lost sand during the flood. 

The Capital Civic Center is a proposed project that would replace the current Juneau Arts & Culture Center. Juneau voters rejected a ballot proposition to fund the new civic center in 2019, but the city appropriated funds to a slightly altered version of the project anyway. 

Barr said those funds were meant to be a match for a federal or state grant, which hasn’t materialized. He said that money was originally allocated from the hotel bed tax fund and the general fund.

The Assembly will discuss how to fund the rest of the HESCO barrier expansion at a special assembly meeting on Thursday.