Thomas Norris, ANTHC Apprentice Electrician, recently passed the State of Alaska Certificate of Fitness Exam for Electrical Journeyman, making him the first graduate of the ANTHC Environmental Health and Engineering Apprenticeship Program. This program was developed in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Apprenticeship and Alaska Vocational Technical Related Studies Program. The four-year program requires 8,000 hours of on-the-job learning, in addition to many required hours of instruction. During his time as an apprentice, Norris worked on ...

If you live in rural Alaska and you need medical attention, you go to the clinic and see a community health aide. But if your local environment needs attention, you will want to see a local environmental professional. Across our state, you can find them working in Tribal and city government offices, identified by a variety of titles: environment manager, water plant or solid waste operator, IGAP or Brownfields coordinator. Although they have different titles and different jobs, they all ...

Each spring as part of the ramp-up to construction season around Alaska, ANTHC’s Environmental Health and Engineering leaders host an annual safety conference for construction staff. Along with honing safety knowledge and skills, ANTHC construction personnel share institutional knowledge and recognize staff achievements in projects to serve our rural community partners. The conference was held the week of March 27. Forty-five superintendents, tradesmen, construction managers and project managers were in attendance on any given day during the week. Most of ...

The relocation of the southwest Alaska village of Newtok to the new site of Mertarvik, nine miles downriver on Nelson Island, has been planned for many years to preserve the sustainability and safety of the community due to more frequent storm erosion damage. In fall 2016, ANTHC Environmental Health and Engineering became part of the relocation team and continues to be a key community partner as the project progresses. “From the outset, our goal was gaining the trust of the ...

“I love remote monitoring!” That was the reaction of Erik Weber, Buckland’s water plant operator, after ANTHC Tribal Utility Support personnel recently installed more than 30 sensors in the community’s water treatment facility. Remote monitoring systems collect information such as temperatures, pressures and flow rates and, using an internet connection, display them on a webpage. This allows operators and others to troubleshoot problems at a distance and to track and collect data which could help reduce fuel and electricity waste. ...

The St. Michael water and sewer system froze in mid-January, leaving the entire community without water or sewer service. Local operators, supported by ANTHC’s Alaska Rural Utility Collaborative (ARUC), started thawing water and sewer mains immediately. Unfortunately, it soon became obvious that thawing the entire 10 miles of water and sewer lines would not be possible until early summer. Community leaders, operators and regional partners took action to assist community residents during the crisis. The Bering Straits Regional Housing Authority ...