Anchorage Daily News

FAIRBANKS -- It could take months to know if the Yukon River will suffer lasting harm from fuel spills caused by flooding, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

So far, about 30 communities have been affected by flooding, most on the Yukon, said Jeremy Zidek, a spokesman for the Alaska Division of Homeland Security.

The good news: As of Thursday afternoon, the National Weather Service had issued no new flood warnings, and canceled those for Ruby and Tanana, Zidek said.

But a team found sheet ice -- the type associated with ice jams -- in Russian Mission.

Meanwhile, DEC officials are trying to gauge how much pollution the flooding and boulder-sized ice chunks left behind.

"The damage is extensive, and it's over several villages," said Ed Meggert, a DEC on-scene coordinator.

An oil sheen was visible last week in Eagle Village and fumes permeated the air after an ice jam backed up river water and sent it flowing into the community.

"We really haven't dealt with ice like this before," Meggert said. "There's been flooding and some ice, but the destruction has not been as extensive. We don't know what we're going to be dealing with."

Damage to salmon, waterfowl and soil might not be that bad, he said. The mighty Yukon is roiling with melting ice and will serve as a mixing zone, diluting contaminants on its own, he said.

Michael O'Hare, deputy director of the state's homeland security division, planned to send crews to affected villages later this week to make assessments of contamination and other threats, such as downed power lines. Among those communities: Aniak, Circle, Beaver, Fort Yukon, Tanana and Stevens Village.

Bulk fuel tanks in Eagle were undamaged, but homes and businesses along Front, Second and Third streets had 500- to 1,000-gallon tanks to supply residents through winter, when highway access to is closed, Meggert said.

He was unable to offer an estimate on how much fuel contamination touched Eagle Village three miles up river from Eagle city.

"There are problems there," he said.

Many tanks in Eagle might not be found until summer temperatures melt off the ice.

"There's a huge ice field there," he said. "We know there are houses and tanks and vehicles and so forth under the ice, but the ice is not safe to traverse at all. It's rotten."

Meggert sent people to Circle two days after the flooding began and they reported a new phenomenon.

"The folks there said that as soon as the ice came, there was an overpowering smell of fuel," Meggert said. "We're speculating it wasn't from Circle. It must have been from Eagle, and it was somehow incorporated with the ice coming down."

Bill Justice, environmental director for Tanana Chiefs Conference, said his top concern is maintaining a clean supply of water to villages and remediation of spoiled supplies.

Meggert said he's not sure of the long-term risk from spilled fuel.

"We're kind of in a triage point," he said. "We're breaking some new ground and trying to make decisions as we go."

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