Tribal Utility Support assists Unalakleet with emergency lift station improvements
November 23, 2015Categories: Healthy Homes and Communities
Last week, ANTHC Tribal Utility Support Journeyman Electrician Kolt Garvey joined an emergency response team in Unalakleet to repair a wastewater lift station pump, which is used to move wastewater without costly construction. In the interim, Unalakleet operated a pumper truck to keep the lift station pumping after the station failure, but the process was labor and equipment intensive leading to greater energy and time costs for the city. ANTHC joined the emergency response led by the State of Alaska Remote Maintenance Worker Program. The team requested assistance from the Tribal Utility Support program to provide interim electrical repairs to the lift station. The Remote Maintenance Worker program does not have a support electrician so it often relies on help from the Tribal Utility Support program for electrical issues. Garvey performed the electrical repairs needed for the lift station. His work included the installation of a new service drop and the retrofit and installation of a new electrical panel among other critical electrical repairs. Unalakleet City Manager Dave Richards summed up his appreciation for the joint Tribal Utility Support and Remote Maintenance Worker effort, “A monumental disaster was avoided here that was clearly beyond our capability to avert. I genuinely thank everyone involved.”