Where:
Hooper Bay, Kusilvak Census Area, Alaska
Problem:
An unpermitted, unregulated landfill adjacent to the village is a public health concern, but the community has limited resources to develop an alternative disposal site.
Solution:
RCAC provided training to help the community better manage the disposal site and institute a community trash collection service.
Hooper Bay in western Alaska has about 1,000 residents. About 28 percent of the village’s residents live below the poverty line. A five-acre dumpsite at the village’s northern edge is an unpermitted landfill where residents self-haul their trash, often comingling solid with human waste. There is a constant risk of spreading contaminated soil and snow from tires that exit the dumpsite; flooding is another concern. Flies, insects and birds at the dumpsite can potentially spread diseases.
Studies show more skin infections, respiratory illness, and gastrointestinal diseases when communities lie in such close proximity (less than a quarter mile) to unpermitted, unregulated landfills. Open access to the landfills exacerbates the public health risk. The community also has struggled to establish and maintain an effective local trash collection service.
The City of Hooper Bay and the Native Village of Hooper Bay, which jointly manage the landfill, approached RCAC for help. While the community currently lacks capacity and resources to construct a Class II landfill—estimated to cost up to $13 million—they set a goal to better manage their current dumpsite.
RCAC helped the community to implement a new trash collection program; and provided landfill operator training so that local residents could sustain the service and maintain the heavy equipment, which was funded through a separate federal grant. The collection service improves conditions because it lessens public traffic at the dump, eliminating vector pathways, tracking of dump waste on boots and ATV tires, and reduces incidences of people starting fires in the dump. The operator can control and manage trash better.
In 2016, RCAC will provide a three-day landfill operation and maintenance course to involve more residents in the new trash collection service and share best practices. RCAC also will support the community with its water sampling, and to determine whether any contaminants from the landfill are leaching into the area’s streams and ponds. Meanwhile, community leaders are preparing grant applications to fund a new landfill.
After RCAC training in April and May, the community will know how to operate and maintain their dumpsite to avert community health hazards. This will also help them access funding and increase capacity and sustainability, all of which can lead to acquisition of a new landfill.
