According to the office of Governor Mike Dunleavy, the state of Alaska has exhausted all options before recently filing a complaint in U.S. District Court to pressure the U.S. government to take responsibility for and address contaminated sites that it conveyed to Alaska Natives over 50 years ago as part of the land exchanges under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA). Dunleavy calls the transfer of contaminated sites to Alaska Natives ‘one of the most significant environmental injustices perpetuated by the federal government in Alaska.’
Federal and State law state that federal agencies are responsible for the cleanup of these sites. In several cases, the federal government, owned and operated the ANCSA lands when releases of hazardous and/or toxic materials and other contamination occurred.
The State of Alaska also filed Freedom of Information Act requests with the Department of the Interior/Bureau of Land Management, the Federal Aviation Administration, the U.S. Air Force, and the U.S. Army to obtain information that the DOI/BLM didn’t voluntarily share with the state, including the nature and extent of any response activities at the identified contaminated sites. In May 2021, Governor Dunleavy, Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor, and DEC Commissioner Jason Brune sent letters to President Biden and DOI requesting action. In December 2021, the Alaska DEC, issued 548 notices of intent to sue the Interior Dept. for failing to clean up contamination on lands transferred to Alaska Native corporations.
According to the office of Governor Dunleavy, the federal government denied responsibility in letters sent in January 2022 and in April 2022.
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Photo credits courtesy of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation social media page.