In mid-2018, the Northwest Arctic Borough (NAB) partnered with ANTHC and Maniilaq Association to create a regional utility assistance program known as the Community Utility Assistance Program (CUAP). The program has ambitious goals to make water and sewer affordable, reduce water/sewer system emergencies, provide training and support for operators and administrators, and help communities become more competitive for construction grants. Data from the first six months of this partnership is encouraging. Nine of 10 communities in the borough joined the ...

Radon is a colorless, odorless, radioactive gas that can be a serious health hazard among people who are constantly exposed. Radon is the second-leading cause of lung cancer in the U.S., after smoking. During January’s Radon Action Month, our Alaska Native people are encouraged to learn more about radon, which is formed through the decay of uranium beneath the earth’s surface. It escapes through soil and can seep into homes that are built directly on the ground, have basements, or ...

Recently, ANTHC construction crews installed a new ocean sewer outfall on the coast of Sand Point in the Aleutians East Borough. A sewer outfall is a large pipe anchored to the bottom of the ocean that disperses treated sewage a safe distance away from a community. Built in the 1980s, Sand Point’s original outfall anchors failed and caused it to float twice, making replacement necessary. Typically, outfalls are assembled 20 feet at a time on the shore from where the ...

Recent earthquake activity in Anchorage had ANMC and Anchorage residents thinking about earthquake safety. This article was pulled from the Mukluk Telegraph archives. When it opened on November 29, 1953, the Anchorage Medical Center of the Alaska Native Service was the largest civilian building in Alaska. The hospital experienced a great deal of change in its first 11 years in downtown Anchorage, but few things altered the facility more dramatically than the 9.2-magnitude earthquake that hit Alaska on Good Friday ...

A team from ANTHC Tribal Utility Support recently traveled to Gulkana to fix several problems with the water treatment system that threatened the community’s ability to provide clean water. Excess sediment around the well pump was reducing the flow of river water to the water treatment plant and clogging up system equipment. In addition, an improperly installed heat tape was allowing ice to build up around the pipe that carries the water from the river to the plant. Both conditions ...

The average person spends approximately 90 percent of their time indoors, where their health can be affected by the environment around them. Moisture control and ventilation are two important aspects of maintaining healthy home air quality. When piped water is first introduced to a home, additional moisture build-up occurs, which could lead to mold growth, infrastructure damage and respiratory illnesses. In September, the ANTHC Tribal Air Quality and Healthy Homes Program collaborated with an ANTHC water service construction project in ...