US EPA

9418857 

Journal Article 

Solid waste management in rural Alaska 

Hansen, HM; Thomas, HP 

1996 

769-779 

WOS:A1996BG81P00065 

Implementation of modern solid waste management practices in rural Alaska is problematic for a variety of reasons including the remoteness, lack of transportation, the severe climate, frequent lack of funding, limited opportunities for recycling, and presence of bears, to name a few. Cultural factors also enter into the picture. As part of a Master's Degree Program in International Technology Planning offered by the University of Aalborg in Aalborg, Denmark, a study was conducted in 1993-94 of solid waste management in villages in the Interior region of Alaska. Field work for the study was conducted by the first author and a fellow student during August 1993 as part of a traineeship which was provided under the direction of the second author. Because of logistical constraints, the study had to concentrate primarily on villages on Alaska's limited road system. Villages visited included Copper Center, Northway, Minto, Manley Hot Springs and Nenana. Available information was reviewed in advance of the visits and interviews were arranged and conducted with village elders, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation staff and others. The Athabascan village of Minto was subsequently selected for further in-depth study as being uniquely representative of solid waste management problems in many Alaskan villages. The paper describes the Interior Alaska setting, the waste stream and the regulatory background. It then goes on to describe waste sources, waste collection and waste disposal practices. Several engineering: solutions are noted including ways of meeting current Federal Subtitle D requirements. However, obstacles loom large in terms of the climate, frequent lack of local government lack of funding and cultural factors. The paper concludes with some comparisons between villages and regions and some comments on ''appropriate technology.''