By Chase Berenson

TNews Staffwriter

Whittier residents may have to wait until Sept. 5 or later before the flow of gas resumes through a pipeline connecting the port town’s gas supply to Anchorage.

Enstar shut off the natural gas to the entire community of Whittier earlier last month due to a pipeline leak discovered by a boater on the Twentymile River. 

Enstar succeeded in finding an alternate source of natural gas significantly ahead of schedule and turned Whittier customers back on after only one week, Aug. 23.

While this accelerated restorage is great news for the residents of Whittier, it also prompts concerns about what caused the outage and whether other communities could be at risk for the same situation.

Enstar Natural Gas Company is the largest gas utility in Southcentral Alaska and serves over 57% of Alaska’s population. It was founded as Anchorage Gas in 1959 and started providing gas service to Anchorage in 1961. The utility’s service area expanded to Girdwood in 1996, and Enstar serves approximately 1,615 customers in Glacier City.

This situation in Whittier was prompted Aug. 9, when the boater smelled natural gas and reported it to Enstar. Enstar crews investigated and discovered a pipeline break in an underground pipeline near the river. While the utility evaluated potential repairs, they also made plans to truck in liquified natural gas from Fairbanks as a substitute fuel for the community.

The pipeline condition continued getting worse, with the pipeline eventually rupturing and causing pressure drops in Whittier, Enstar spokesman John Sims said at an Aug. 19 Whittier City Council meeting.

The rupture was approximately one-half mile upstream of the mouth of the river where it meets Turnagain Arm. The rupture required the flow of gas to be shut off to the downstream customers of Whittier, which happened before Enstar had acquired the substitute fuel. The plan to truck LNG from Fairbanks fell through because Enstar lacked a needed component to regasify the LNG into their system according to Heather Hedlund, Enstar’s Communications Manager.

Read the entire story and more photos at the link below:

https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/whittier-natural-gas-shutdown-shows-vulnerability-of-communities-outside-the-anchorage-bowl

By Soren Wuerth

TNews Editor 

A sunlit ceremony held Saturday for Girdwood firefighters began with an almost unwavering rendition of Star Spangled Banner by 10-year-old Madison Woods, a fifth-grader at the local school.

Firefighters in sharp, pleated outfits, some donning white dress caps, waited through commendations to receive badges recognizing milestones in their training. 

"You gave up your own time and energy to invest in yourselves and to help your community," Anchorage Mayor Suzanne LaFrance said to firefighters and their families in Alyeska Hotel's Kalhitna Ballroom.

LaFrance noted that the 41-member force in Girdwood face particularly challenging terrain and a wintertime flood of people. Their coverage extends all along the Seward Highway and the department "protects a billion-dollars of critical infrastructure," she said.

The ceremony marked the completion of anywhere from 160-180 training hours for various certificates depending on requirements ranging from EMT to paramedic to engineer. 

Firefighter rankings are signified by pins, from tools to bugles. As you climb ranks, the bugles go from silver to gold and become crossed and multiplied. A fire chief has five crossed gold bugles.

At Saturday's ceremony, four trainees earned their Firefighter One certificates, a commitment that involved strenuous exercises. 

"They spend their days sweating in firefighting gear and coming home still sore," said Capt.  Anna Ferntheil, a 12-year veteran in Girdwood's station, who trained the class.

Of this class, Ferntheil noted its sense of togetherness. She remembered a day of training after she had had an "awful" week. 

Read the entire story at the link below:

https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/local-firefighters-recognized-for-trainings-and-service

Leafhoppers Suddenly Everywhere

By Soren Wuerth

TNews Editor

They flecked car windshields, flitted clumsily into doorways, flung themselves into hair and sucking sap from anything from willow to cottonwood.

Leafhoppers descended into Girdwood valley like a green snowfall during the past week. There were especially numerous in the Crow Creek's upper valley, a "plague" not seen in years, or ever. 

Their larvae coated roads like grains spread by sand trucks. The little creatures speckled windows and screens. They were everywhere all at once.

Read the entire story at the link below:

https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/tiny-green-bugs-hop-into-town

By Chase Berenson

TNews Staffwriter

One of Girdwood’s beloved winter traditions is the Mount Alyeska Snow Classic, hosted by Four Valleys Community School (FVCS).  Almost everyone in Girdwood knows that the premise of a snow classic is to purchase a ticket, guess how much snow will have fallen by a certain date, and then win half the pot of money if the guess is right.  But outside of Girdwood, snow classics are unknown to many Alaskans.  When Alaska legalized snow classic betting in 2012, they only legalized one snow classic in the entire state.  Alaska Statute (AS) 05.15.690(47) reads: “‘snow classic’ means a game of chance in which a prize of money is awarded to the closest guess of the total snow accumulation on the ground at a specific location on Mount Alyeska on a specific date and time and is limited to the Alyeska Snow Classic operated and administered by Four Valleys Community School, Inc.”

Read the entire story at the link below:

https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/fvcs-led-the-state-with-alaskas-first-and-only-snow-classic