ANTHC Presents at the 4th Annual Arctic Encounter Symposium
April 28, 2017On April 13, ANTHC Environmental Health and Engineering staff traveled to Seattle, Washington to attend the 4th Annual Arctic Encounter Symposium, the largest annual Arctic policy event in the United States. The two-day symposium, themed Shifting North: A New Era in the Arctic, brought together a number of individuals and nonprofit organizations from Iceland, Greenland, Canada, Russia, Norway, and the United States to discuss developing scientific and geo-political issues concerning the future of the Arctic. Alaska Senators Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski spoke at the conference, as well as Alaska Native leaders such as Gail Schubert, President and CEO of Bering Straits Native Corporation, and Anthony Edwardsen, President and CEO of Ukpeaġvik Iñupiat Company.
The symposium provided an opportunity for ANTHC staff to exhibit our sanitation innovations and describe our unique approach to the challenges of providing affordable sanitation facilities and services to small northern villages. Staff provided demonstrations on design innovations addressing the changing conditions of the Arctic, including flexible water service lines, which adapt to shifting foundations, preliminary designs for maintaining frozen permafrost under infrastructures in Quinhagak, and developing in-home sanitation systems in Kivalina using a Portable Alternative Sanitation System (PASS). Senator Murkowski expressed interest in the PASS project and said she would share the reports with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator, Scott Pruitt.
ANTHC’s successful presentations earned the team invitations by Symposium Founder and Executive Director, Rachel Kallander, to attend the 2018 Symposium and present on developments in public health and engineering innovations.