AK Village Already Pounded By Erosion Now Can't Get Fuel Delivered - River Too Shallow - ADN

[hatrack]

One of Alaska's most eroded coastal villages is facing a new crisis: the closest river has gotten so shallow that barges can no longer make regular fuel deliveries to the remote community.

Running out of fuel in Newtok would be disastrous, say leaders in the Yup'ik Eskimo community of 315. Without fuel, villagers can't run the snowmachines and boats they use to search for subsistence foods like seal and halibut that are crucial to their survival. "This is food we have to have to prepare for the whole wintertime," said acting administrator Stanley Tom.

Fuel to operate the power plant is being flown in to the village, which is far off the road system. But businesses and individuals can't afford such a costly alternative and only a couple thousand gallons of unleaded gasoline remain in the village, said Tom, whose variety store has run out of gas and heating oil to sell to customers. Residents, who have enough heating oil to last the winter, are looking for help to build a pipeline system to transport fuel delivered by barges from the next nearest river.

But state and federal funds for the increasingly battered site have dried up because Newtok has begun to relocate to higher ground nine miles to the south. The move is expected to take several years or more, casting the village in financial limbo. It's a unique predicament that could launch a precedent on how government deals with similar transitions in a region wracked by escalating climate change. "The village is in a very tough spot. How to help is a puzzle," said Chris Mello with the Alaska Energy Authority who is investigating the problem with Gov. Sarah Palin's office. "No existing program that I know of is set up to cope with the situation they're in right now."

EDIT

http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/rural/story/8653708p-8545524c.html

[uppityperson]

1. Newtok is off the Baird inlet, less than 1/4 mi from Baird inlet

I don't understand, since it seems they could be getting stuff up through there. I don't understand the moving 9 miles south, unless they'd be moving on the other side of the inlet.

Edited for typo and to add map link
http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=60.944456,-164.644105&spn=0.1,0.1&t=h&q=60.944456,-164.644105

[Dead_Parrot]

2. I must need a new dictionary

The definition of "subsistence" I've got doesn't mention anything about having barge-loads of fuel to run snowmobiles. :shrug:

[Nihil]

3. Glad it wasn't just me! (n/t)

:hi:

[Javaman]

4. The irony of modern life...

I feel sorry for these folks, but they complain that they can't continue their ancestral hunting (I'm not sure that's the right term) for food because they don't have fuel for their modern vehicles.