The Dunleavy administration has announced that BP and ExxonMobil are ready to invest in the Alaska gasline project again.
At the Alaska Oil and Gas Association Conference, Lt. Gov. Kevin Meyer announced that the two companies will put in $20 million to help move the project along past the federal permitting stage.
Gov. Michael Dunleavy was scheduled to make the remarks at the AOGA conference, but was delayed in Juneau due to a mechanical problem with the Alaska Airlines jet. Meyer delivered the news at the Dena’ina Center during the noon luncheon at the one-day conference.
During the Walker Administration, ConocoPhillips, BP, and ExxonMobil had backed out of the project, while Walker explored signing contracts with China to build the gasline to Nikiski and facilities on the North Slope and at tidewater for export of the gas to mainland China, primarily.
The companies remained engaged in providing technical help, however, and kept a positive outlook for selling gas to the project, if it is ever built. The announcement that they are putting dollars back in the project may be seen as a vote of confidence in the prospects for Alaska natural gas commercialization.
“Yesterday brought word that the Hoonah Packing Company at Hoonah packed 115,000 cases of fish.”
– Alaska Daily Empire, August 15, 1918
That brief 100-year-old news note about an Alaska salmon cannery hardly begins to tell the story of the importance of fishing and its relationship to the community of Hoonah.
As told in James Mackovjak’s local history of commercial seine fishing, Hoonah’s “Million Dollar Fleet”, salmon were more than the backbone of the economy. Fishing was an integral component of the culture that developed in this remote but rich region. Salmon provided nourishment and income and were the subject of much artwork. Fishing was a way of life.
Today, the history of that cannery and the culture of the people who made it successful are on full display.
The Huna Totem Corporation recently held a ground-breaking ceremony for a second cruise ship dock near the original cannery location at Icy Strait Point, the only privately-owned cruise port in Alaska. Icy Strait Point (ISP) and its location at Hoonah share a very strong and long connection with the Tlingit people that make it one of the most unique cruise destinations in North America.
Russell Dick, President and CEO, spoke at the ceremony that included a traditional Native blessing of the land. He stressed the Corporation’s commitment to “respecting the land” as part of their three pillars of leadership, “Value, Respect, and Community”.
Icy Strait Point includes, as its centerpiece, the carefully restored 100-year old cannery and cookhouse, now repurposed into a museum, restaurant, and shops. At the dock, greeters in Tlingit regalia welcome visitors. Nature trails, adventure tours, and Native storytellers all incorporate a glimpse into Huna Tlingit history and culture.
Huna Totem Corporation (HTC), a for-profit Alaska Native corporation, opened ISP for operation in May 2004. The first year, ISP saw the arrival of 32 ships carrying 55,000 passengers – using tenders to bring them ashore. As cruise visits grew, operations and visitor attractions expanded. In 2016, a 400-foot cruise ship dock was added. In 2019, the town of Hoonah and its 760 residents expect to host 138 ships carrying over 250,000 cruise visitors. The proposed new dock, a collaboration between ISP and Norwegian Cruise Lines, will allow even further expansion.
The community of Hoonah, a largely Tlingit community on Chichagof Island, is located 30 miles west of Juneau. Well over 250 years ago, the Huna Tlingit people settled there after migrating from Glacier Bay – a place where they had lived for thousands of years.
In 1912, the Hoonah Packing Company built the first cannery in the area which today is Icy Strait Point. Ownership traded hands several times before the Icy Strait Salmon Company purchased the property in 1932. The cannery played a key role in the community throughout its history.
Battling rapidly changing weather, notoriously tricky tidal currents, and even icebergs, Hoonah seine fishermen were renowned for catching salmon in “the passes” that connect Icy Strait and Cross Sound.
The salmon seine fishery in Icy Strait lasted only a half century, barely two generations – and the last year of operation for the Hoonah cannery was 1953.
Despite the increase of cruise visitors, the village of Hoonah remains largely unchanged. ISP’s operation remains geographically separated from town, and the majority of visitors explore the expanded cannery site or embark on various guided tours.
Yet, the economic benefits to local residents are substantial. Over 80 percent of ISP’s workforce, which is now approaching 200 people, are Hoonah residents. Profits from the ISP operation support substantial dividends for HTC shareholders and fund activities helping to preserve Tlingit history and culture.
ISP and the community of Hoonah have worked together cooperatively. The goal remains for development to provide maximum economic benefits to residents and shareholders while mitigating any impacts of visitors. This has been accomplished through the careful design and location of docks, transportation points, employee service areas, as well as the timing and method of handling visitor flows.
Hoonah’s new tourism economy provides sustenance and avenues for artistic expression – just like salmon always have. As a successful collaboration of industry and traditional Native culture, it presages an enriching future for generations to come.
Win Gruening retired as the senior vice president in charge of business banking for Key Bank in 2012. He was born and raised in Juneau and graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1970. He is active in community affairs as a 30-plus year member of Juneau Downtown Rotary Club and has been involved in various local and statewide organizations.
The MRAK Almanac is your place for political, cultural, and civic events, events where you’ll meet political leaders or, if you are interested in getting to know your state, these are great places to meet conservative- and moderate-leaning Alaskans.
5/31:Facebook Live Town Hall with Governor Mike Dunleavy. Governor Dunleavy will answer questions directly from Alaskans about issues such as the budget, the PFD, and the legislative process. The Town Hall will go live at noon on Gov. Dunleavy’s Facebook page, here.
5/31: Pacific Island Festival in Anchorage. Great fun and food for the whole family, in celebration of pacific island cultural heritage. More info here.
5/31: 2019 Miss Alaska Pageant. Winner will represent Alaska at the national Miss America contest. Tickets are $20, see more here.
5/31: Spring Festival Fundraiser at the Kenai Peninsula Food Bank. Fun for all ages, with a free BBQ picnic and music. Donations encouraged. Link here.
5/31: Annual Pet Fun Runat JBER. Bring your furry friend and race to the finish line. The top three pet-owner teams will receive prizes. Registerhere.
5/31: 2019 Sporting Clays Classic in Chugiak to support scouting in Alaska. Teams of five will go head-to-head, with the best shooters taking home the prize. All levels of shooting experience welcomed. Details here.
Josh Verhagen
5/31: Interior Alaska Republicans weekly luncheon at Denny’s in Fairbanks. Guest will be Nenana Mayor Joshua Verhagan. Open to the public, begins at 11:30 am.
5/31: Friday Fling in historic downtown Palmer from 10 am – 5 pm. Set to feature local vendors, diverse cuisine, and entertainment for all ages. This event will be recurring each Friday all summer long. Website here.
5/31: Clean-Up Day at the Palmer Hay Flats State Refuge. Volunteers are needed in order to make the refuge as beautiful as it should be for the summer ahead. Garbage bags and disposal will be provided, see morehere.
6/1: The 13th Annual Seward Annual Halibut Tournament will open on June 1, 2019. This early-season halibut derby has a grand prize of two round-trip tickets to any Alaska Airlines destination. Last year’s winning fish weighed 248.2 lbs. It will run through June 30.
6/1: Ninth annual Fiddlehead Festival at the Hotel Alyeska. Bring the whole family to enjoy music, food, crafts, and all sorts of fun. If you want, try the fiddlehead dishes prepared by talented Alaskan chefs. This event is free to all. More info here.
6/1:Potter Marsh Discovery Day 2019. Anchorage’s most popular wildlife viewing event will take place along the Potter Marsh boardwalk starting at 11 am. Educational animals will be present, and the free event is open to all ages. Visit this link for more info. Drive with care in area.
6/1: Homer’s Bear Creek Winery will host their annual music festival and pig roast to benefit the Homer Sports Scholarship. Tickets here.
6/1: Sixth annual Walk-n-Roll for animals to benefit the Mat-Su Valley Animal Shelter. Last year, the funds raised from this event paid for the spaying/neutering of almost 200 animals. Participation fee is $35, link to register here.
6/1:Kids Fishing Day at the Chugach National Forest. Forest Service staff will be on-hand to teach fishing skills to young Alaskans through an array of fun games and exercises. This event is free to all, learn more here.‘
6/1:Sitnasuak Native Corporation will hold its 45th annual Shareholders Meeting in Nome. Shareholders will have the chance to discuss SNC’s past year as well as voting on four Board of Directors seats.
6/1-6/2: Outdoor Market in Wasilla. Come enjoy Alaska made crafts and food. Fun for all ages. Info here.
6/2: Rev Alaska Auto Show inside the Sports Complex in Wasilla. Come to chat with attending Alaska State and Wildlife Troopers, or to take a look at the many Alaska autosports expositions on display. Free to attend, more info at thislink.
6/2: Fourth Annual Barrel and Bike Show at Anchorage Brewing Company. Entry is free, and parking is limited for non-motorcycle vehicles. Will take place from 2 pm – 8 pm rain or shine. More details here.
6/4:100th Anniversary of Women’s Right to Vote Celebration hosted by Anchorage Republican Women. Will take place at the Delaney Park Strip Veterans Memorial. Visit thislink for more info.
Alaska History Archive:
June 1, 1909: 110 years since the famed Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition took place on the grounds of the University of Washington in Seattle. This world’s fair was an immense success, pulling together thousands of Alaskan and Canadian art and artifacts for the public to enjoy. It also helped promote Alaska’s lasting economic and cultural ties with Seattle and the Northwest region at large. An impressive 80,000 people attended the fair on its opening day.
June 2, 1883: Early Anchorage resident and pioneering businessman Oscar Anderson was born in Sagerskog, Sweden. Anderson claimed to be the 18th person to ever step foot in Anchorage, though this claim has since been contested. Most know Anderson’s name in relation to the Oscar Anderson House Museum on M St. in downtown Anchorage. A fun visit.
Here, hold my beer and watch this! This is the kind of stuff that made me a high-powered State official for some years:
“In every case of the layoff of any permanent employee, the appointing authority shall make every effort to give written notice to the employee at least thirty (30) calendar days in advance of the effective date of the layoff. The appointing authority shall give at least ten (10) working days written notice.”
That is the language from the current agreement with the Alaska State Employees Association representing the 8,000-odd (some of them very odd) members of the General Government Unit of classified, non-supervisory State employees; the maw of the beast.
They may have changed it in the Walker pay-off agreements negotiated after he lost, but those can’t be effective without a budget, so they don’t count.
Here’s what I got paid for for all those years: Just what does “make every effort” mean? That is certainly good for a grievance that goes to arbitration. It is probably good for an injunction if the union can do a little judge shopping and Law lets them get away with it. It might even be good for an appeal all the way to the Alaska Supreme Court.
The sum of it is that Alaska State Employee Association Executive Director Jake Metcalfe and his ASEA minions can tie the State in knots for a couple of years over the layoff notices should there not be a budget on June 1. They can’t make the State pay them if there isn’t a budget, but they can almost certainly make the State pay them back pay if they get laid off for lack of funds, because none of us really know what “make every effort” means.
Now here is the uptight bureaucrat and lawyer answer to the question: The “make every effort” clause is an expression of good faith but not a legal obligation, and the 10 days notice is the only legal obligation that the State has.
In “Introduction to Law 101” or even 1st year law, that is the right answer. In the real world, it isn’t the right answer. Now, I’m not a lawyer, but I hired, fired, and supervised a bunch of them, and I even hired some of the lawyers advising the State these days, so I kinda’ know the game.
The governor has taken the “10 days” answer. That answer is legally correct and practically wrong. And that is the real issue here; there is nobody in the Dunleavy Administration that has even the slightest amount of practical experience running not just the State government, but any government of any size, anywhere. That was the problem with the Palin Administration; nobody had a clue how to run the damned thing. This one may even be worse because there aren’t many people left in State government who know how it is supposed to work.
Let’s say I’m an arbitrator or Superior Court judge and this issue is before me. The issue presented is whether the State “made every effort” to notify its permanent employees of impending layoff. Now, on May 30, when the Legislature hasn’t passed a budget and most of its members are out gallivanting around their districts, I should, if I have a brain, think that there probably isn’t going to be a State operating budget the day after tomorrow. If I’m in charge of stuff on the third floor of the Capitol or the 10th floor of the Juneau State Office Building, I might have some people really busy preparing layoff notices.
The right answer is to give them all, every one of them, layoff notices on Friday. They’ll freak.
My daughter was a State employee when Gov. Walker did it, and I well remember that call. I just told her that they were all a bunch of chickensh*ts and would never go through with it, so she shouldn’t worry. This bunch might just stumble into it. The people who do the most harm don’t really mean to.
I’m the kind of guy who would shut down the government; I would hurt some people. But, I would have started doing that months ago. I would have sent some single item appropriation bills over to try to fund the prisons, the cops, the courts, and the Pioneer Homes, and the like.
Maybe the union minions in the House would have passed them, maybe not, but it would have been on them. I’d have been really busy out making peace with the cops, COs, and the Courts. You need their good will to get them to come to work without pay and their confidence that you will take care of them. And you need to understand that some of them will try to screw you hard just because they can, and you probably deserve it because you let it come to this.
Day after tomorrow it becomes a really dirty game; we’ll see who is up to it.
Art Chance is a retired director of Labor Relations for the State of Alaska, formerly of Juneau and now living in Anchorage. He is the author of the book, “Red on Blue, Establishing a Republican Governance,” available at Amazon.
DIVIDEND CALCULATION REMAKE WAS TOO MUCH FOR ALASKANS
The Alaska Legislature is mostly cleared out of the Capitol, and Must Read Alaska has learned that the controversial bill offered by House Finance Co-chairs Rep. Tammie Wilson and Neal Foster has been swept under the rug. It is unlikely to be seen again.
Speaker Bryce Edgmon has indicated he doesn’t want the bill to advance out of committee, which explains why House Finance has avoided meeting all week, in spite of published meeting notifications.
HB 1005 would issue a full $3,000 Permanent Fund dividend this year to eligible Alaskans, but would cut their future dividends in half. It also would tap the Constitutional Budget Reserve to pay for those dividends.
The House Finance Committee hearing on the bill was a barn-burner, with testimony going 99-1 against the bill. Callers had various reasons for not liking it, and in their two-minute testimony window, they let the committee leaders have it last week.
Now, a bill is being drafted in the Senate to tackle the dividend, which has not been incorporated in the operating budget that is still under negotiation. It may be offered on Monday, as most business in the Legislature is shut down for the remainder of the week.
That bill, which could be numbered SB 1002, would issue the full dividend and tap the Constitutional Budget Reserve, but would not put in the contingency language that required halved dividends in the years ahead.
Critics say if the bill had passed it would have suffered defeat in a voter referendum. And the political liabilities associated with it were making lawmakers queasy.
The Senate leadership may be realizing that not providing a budget to the governor in time for him to sign it would lead to a government shutdown and that it would be difficult for legislators to deflect the blame away from themselves. A new PFD bill that is more palatable is now the way forward, although this is the sausage of lawmaking, and sausage can change.
The special session can last as long as 30 days, which means it will end June 14, if not sooner. The governor has indicated he will send out layoff notices on that day if he has no budget. He has also been signaling he’ll call a second special session in Wasilla.
Attorney and fly-fishing enthusiast John Wood of Willow has been appointed to the vacancy on the board of Fisheries.
The position has been open since the Alaska Legislature rejected the appointment of retired Judge Karl Johnstone, after Rep. Ivy Spohnholz had lodged unsupported accusations against him — accusations that were never substantiated.
Wood served on the Mat-Su Borough Board of Fish and Wildlife, as staff for the Alaska State Legislature, served three terms on the Anchorage Assembly, including a term as chairman, clerked on the Alaska Superior Court, admitted to the Alaska Bar in 1972. His term started May 24.
He will need to go through the confirmation process in the Alaska Legislature next year. Some of the Dunleavy Administration nominations have had a rough time in the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives, where there is a strong streak of opposition to the governor in the Majority.
The governor also made other board appointments today, including three Alaskans to the Human Rights Commission: Betsy Engle of Fairbanks, William Craig of Sitka, and Evelyn Falzerano of Anchorage. Their terms started on May 28. The commission is expected to meet in June.
Other appointments include reappointing Ben Brown of Juneau, and adding Juan Munoz of Juneau and John Paul Kohler of Fairbanks to the Alaska State Council on the Arts.
Carl Brady was reappointed to the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation.
Cachet Garrett, of Fairbanks, formerly of Juneau, is a new student representative to the UA Board of Regents.
Other appointments are as follows:
Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve Advisory Council
Andy Hedden – Haines (reappointment)
Term: 7/1/19 – 7/1/21
Kip Kermoian – Haines (reappointment)
Term: 7/1/19 – 7/1/21
Stephen Lewis – Juneau (reappointment)
Term: 7/1/19 – 7/1/21
Alaska Historical Commission
Jonathon Ross – Chugiak (reappointment)
Term: 7/1/19 – 6/30/22
Mark Rollins – Anchorage
Term: 7/1/19 – 6/30/22
Alaska Seismic Hazards Safety Commission
Kelsey Trimmer – Palmer
Term: 4/26/19 – 6/30/21
Alaska State Council on the Arts
Benjamin Brown – Juneau (reappointment)
Term: 7/1/19 – 6/30/22
Juan Munoz – Juneau
Term: 7/1/19 – 6/30/22
John Paul Kohler Jr – Fairbanks
Term: 7/1/19 – 6/30/22
Big Game Commercial Services
Peter Buist – Fairbanks
Term: 5/21/19 – 3/1/21
Board of Fisheries
John Wood – Willow
Term: 5/24/19 – 6/30/21
Board of Forestry
William Morris – Fairbanks (reappointment)
Term: 7/1/19 – 6/30/22
Eric Nichols – Ketchikan (reappointment)
Term: 7/1/19 – 6/30/22
Board of Nursing
Catherine Hample – Wasilla
Term: 5/24/19 – 3/1/21
Lena Lafferty – Anchorage
Term: 5/24/19 – 3/1/22
Board of Trustees of the Alaska Permanent Fund
Carl Brady Jr– Anchorage (reappointment)
Term: 7/1/19 – 6/30/23
Commission on Judicial Conduct
Todd Fletcher – Anchorage
Term: 5/21/19 – 3/1/23
Human Rights Commission
Betsy Engle – Fairbanks
Term: 5/28/19 – 3/1/20
William Craig – Sitka
Term: 5/28/19 – 3/1/23
Evelyn Falzerano – Anchorage
Term: 5/28/19
Professional Teaching Practices Commission
Lem Wheeles – Anchorage
Term: 5/21/19 – 3/1/22
Real Estate Commission
Jerry Royse – Anchorage
Term: 5/22/19 – 3/1/23
Renewable Energy Fund Advisory Committee
Alicia Siira – Anchorage
Term: 5/13/19 – 3/1/22
State Council on Educational Opportunity for Military Children
LEGISLATURE HAS NOT PASSED BUDGET, GONE HOME FOR FIVE DAYS
The Dunleavy Administration sent a memo to state employees Wednesday, explaining that if the Legislature doesn’t pass a budget by June 30, layoffs could result.
But that layoff notices would be 10 days out from July 1, if a budget still isn’t passed. Dunleavy says the notices would go out on June 14, several days earlier than the 10 days cited in his memo.
Legislators are in the third week of what could be a 30-day special session, which ends June 14.
The Legislature has not passed a final budget and transmitted it to the governor for his action. [Corrected.]
Speaker Bryce Edgmon has authorized airline tickets for everyone to leave Juneau for five to six days for time in their districts and nearly all legislators have left the capital city.
“As you know, the Legislature did not pass an operating budget during the 121 Day regular session. I called for an immediate special session to allow for the Legislature to get a budget passed. We are now two weeks into that special session with no budget as yet,” Gov. Dunleavy wrote to state employees on Wednesday.
“While I have every hope that Legislative leaders will address their prime obligation under the Constitution to approve a budget, the possibility exists that the Legislature may fail to do so before this Special Session ends,” Dunleavy wrote.
“Alaska law and collective bargaining agreements address the notice requirement of possible furloughs or lay-offs. The requirement is that most employees receive ten working days notice from the end of the fiscal year. If the Legislature is still unable to pass an operating budget by June 14, notices will have to be sent to employees.”
PUBLIC EMPLOYEE UNIONS ORGANIZING
But the head of the employees’ union says that the layoff notices need to come 30 days before layoffs take effect.
In a memo to Alaska State Employees Association members, Jake Metcalfe wrote to members that “Article 12.04 of the ASEA Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with the State provides that the appointing authority shall make every effort to give written notice to the employee at least thirty (30) calendar days in advance of the effective date of a possible layoff. Accordingly, you may receive a letter from the State of Alaska giving you notice of layoff, effective July 1, 2019. ”
“Even if layoff notices are issued, ASEA is hopeful that an Operating Budget will be signed into law prior to July 1, 2019 and no layoffs will take place. A similar notice was sent out in 2015, and a shutdown was avoided when the budget was passed and signed prior to July 1 of that year. Failure to deliver an Operating Budget for the coming fiscal year would cause chaos in our economy and interrupt the majority of state programs and services. The Legislature and the Governor are aware of the consequences,” Metcalfe wrote.
“House and Senate versions of the Operating Budget are in the final stage of being reconciled. Monetary terms for the ASEA contract were included in both versions and so the appropriation for wages and benefits was adopted automatically by the Conference Committee. The negotiated 3% wage increase and additional $98 per month contributed by the employer toward health insurance (both effective July 1, 2019) will be included in the Budget submitted to the Governor,” he wrote in a memo titled “BREAKTIME READING.”
“ASEA is in communication with the Administration and the Legislature to ensure an Operating Budget is in place for the new fiscal year. ASEA is also working with Alaska’s other public employee unions and the Alaska AFL-CIO to advocate for the best possible budget compromise. In addition, other interest groups—not just unions—are pushing to get a budget passed soon. They understand that fiscal uncertainty is not in the interest of Alaskans.
“However, ASEA and Alaska still need your help. Helping is simple and easy. Write or call your Legislators and the Governor to ask that they agree a budget which prioritizes public programs and services as well as the state’s economy. I hope your message gives pause to the lawmakers who have expressed support for the Governor’s plans to outsource jobs and transfer constitutionally mandated responsibilities to out-of-state corporations.
“If you don’t know who your Legislators are, call ASEA at (907) 277-5200 or (800) 478-2732 toll free and we’ll provide the email address or phone number for your state lawmakers and the Governor’s office.
“You can also help out by participating in ASEA Member Actions. ASEA will be holding events between now and July 1, as necessary, to get out our message to pass a responsible budget. You can be notified of upcoming actions by text message, just text the word AKLEG to 237263. We will notify you of when ASEA Member Actions are scheduled and ask you to join. Your participation will make a difference.
“Please stay strong, active and involved. I hope this update and future updates provide useful information to navigate the current uncertainty surrounding the Operating Budget. Please call or write anytime if you have questions,” Metcalfe wrote.
As with almost anything of importance in Alaska, the question of whether it is constitutional for the Legislature to forward-fund K-12 education appears headed to court.
At its core is this: Can a Legislature appropriate money this year – money it does not have – to fund education for next year? The Legislature did just that last year when it set aside $1.7 billion in funding for education.
Does that bind Gov. Mike Dunleavy this year? Does it bind future lawmakers and future governors to decisions they had nothing to do with?
The House and Senate believe they can forward-fund; the governor, not so much. He says it is unconstitutional. The chambers have authorized the Legislative Council to sue him to resolve the issue.
Dunleavy has suggested lawmakers repeal the $1.7 billion in forward-funding and include education money in this year’s budget, which remains unapproved. Lawmakers have refused to do that.
Brannon Finney was reading the news reports and the U.S. Justice Department account of the careless fisherwoman who dumped sand overboard and admitted to it, went to court, and was fined for violating the Clean Water Act.
That was her they were writing about.
And yet, the Petersburg woman knew that wasn’t her at all. Not even close.
She’s a reduce-and-reuse type. A recycler. A repurposer. She cares about the environment. And she runs a fishing boat with an all female crew, whom she also cares about.
The way her story was portrayed in the media and by the U.S. Attorney’s Office made it look like she created an EPA superfund site with her 8,000 pounds of sand-and-paint chips.
It was not like that, she says. The media told only the prosecution’s side of the story. Maybe she shouldn’t have taken the plea deal. Maybe she should have fought it.
But Finney, raised in Petersburg and Ketchikan, accepted what was offered by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Anchorage, and the case was closed last week. Going to trial put too much at risk. What if she lost?
Instead of fighting, she’ll pay $10,000 in fines and perform 40 hours of community service. She’s on probation for 18 months and must publish an apology.
All of that she will do, while she tries to get on with her life and her career in fishing, as well as the rebuilding of her reputation, which she feels has been dragged through the mud.
Finney was told by her lawyer that it was the best deal she could get, since Finney admitted to pouring the sand overboard, and had provided troopers video proof of the activity. She could have been sent to prison, and forced to forfeit her boat, her lawyer told her.
Yet the punishment has been surprisingly harsh for the aspiring young fisherwoman, who donates to good causes and raises money for fishing scholarships for women. The emotional toll from the media coverage, which went all over the West Coast on television, newspapers, and on the web, has taken an unexpectedly heavy hit on her psyche. She lost one of her apparel sponsorships already: Patagonia, the outdoor apparel line with a brand identity of “clean environment,” abandoned her. She worries how the negative coverage will affect her future in fishing.
Here’s how it unfolded, the side of the story that was not told by the news media:
Two years ago, Finney was repainting her fishing vessel Alaskan Girl at a shipyard in Wrangell. She used sand to blast off the old paint, as is custom, and she ended up with a mixture of paint and sand, which, according to her research, was not toxic.
Finney and her crew loaded the sand on her boat and headed home to Petersburg, where she intended to give it to her mother for some fill for her property.
She said the sand with paint isn’t toxic, she’d been texting with her mom about how they could use the sand on her property. In Petersburg, sand is a valuable commodity and Finney had hoped to repurpose the material into something useful around her mom’s house. People use this material for horse shoe pits and landscaping all the time.
But time got away from Finney, and she was due on the fishing grounds, where she was contracted to be a tender to the fishing fleet. It was her first year at tendering.
Instead of taking the sand to Petersburg, she and her crew released the sand into the water between Petersburg and Wrangell. Because it was not toxic, they enjoyed the process of sending eight tons of sand to the bottom of Sumner Strait, sand that contained maybe 15 gallons of paint chips. They were careful not to let any plastic from the bags get into the water and celebrated their success in completing the project safely.
When Finney arrived at the dock in her home town of Peterburg, a Wildlife Trooper asked her where the sand was. He had received a complaint that she had left the Wrangell shipyard with it.
Finney told the trooper that they had dumped the sand. A video of the event was captured by a reality television camera crew that was onboard, because a producer was thinking about doing a show about the F/V Alaskan Girl and Finney and her crew. Finney thought she’d give the show a go; a show about an all-woman fishing boat could serve as a good example for young women, showing them a possible life goal other than “Teen Mom.”
Finney readily explained what she did. It’s sand, she said. People use stuff like this for sandboxes for their kids. The paint is not metal-based. No lead. Everything she’d researched showed it to be environmentally safe.
But the regulators found an easy target for her violation of the Clean Water Act:
“Along with Finney and two crewmembers, a cameraman was also on board the F/V Alaskan Girl, filming for a possible cable TV reality show. Video footage taken during the trip from Wrangell to Petersburg captured one of the brailer bags hanging overboard the vessel while two crewmembers on board sliced through the bag with a knife. Afterwards, black sandy waste spilled from the sliced bag into the water, while at least one of the crew audibly cheered,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office wrote.
Of course, it was black sand from Wrangell and it was knowingly dumped into Sumner Strait near Wrangell. Sand that is black is not sand that is dirty. It’s just black sand.
A tote this size holds about 1.5 tons of sand. Brannon Finney released 8 tons of sand into Sumner Strait.
Finney said she was told by officials that there were other regulations. These she didn’t know about and that were not listed on her “dumping placard,” which is a Coast Guard set of rules that fishers follow. Her dumping placard, it turned out, was out of date.
“We get an updated Coast Guard approval every five years,” she said.
“I dumped nonhazardous material, and I was told by the prosecutor if I didn’t agree to the terms of the plea deal, I’d face multiple felonies and they’d take away my boat. Instead of literally ruining everything in my life and taking the chance that I was wrong somehow, that I’d lose in court, I figured a $10,000 fine was OK, and I’d do the 40 hours of community service and it would be over.”
But the media got ahold of it and only reported what the prosecution was saying. And it made her look like a monster.
“They said I dumped it to avoid a disposal fee, and that is absolutely not the case. The paint job was $60,000. I’m not going to break the law to avoid a $1,400 disposal fee. The media reported that a month before I even got to court. They create a public opinion before you get in front of a judge,” Finney said.
“I was upset, and talked to my lawyer, and told her it was hitting my career hard, and I wanted to fight it. But she told me this was the best it was going to be and I should be grateful I’m not getting jail time.”
Finney feels that perhaps the federal authorities were making an example of her, because she was an easy target: She told them she did it and showed them the video documentation of what she’d done.
“The punishment is fine. It’s the media spin that is brutal,” she said.
“I gave them everything the court needed to proceed, so they did, but just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. The fact that this even made it to federal court? It was surreal to find myself in that position,” Finney said.
“From the beginning, I have been totally honest about the events that transpired, I had a film crew on board and let him roll the whole thing,” Finney wrote online. “I didn’t have him delete it because I thought it proved our intentions were good, we cut open the bags carefully to prevent getting any plastic in the ocean. Literally to prevent pollution. I didn’t try to hide it because I thought I was within the law. As someone who recycles, conserves, reuses, and goes green whenever possible, I’d never intentionally discharge a ‘pollutant.'”
“The penalty seemed fair to me,” Finney wrote online. “But I had no idea then that it would be publicly reported on so one sidedly. I think I would have fought harder if I had known my name and my boat would be shamed like this. I use my boat to bring supplies to firefighters, and remote communities, to transport recycling for local businesses, to employ and provide scholarships to women in fishing, to start a “teach a girl to fish” program bringing young adults out to Learn about the industry, to donate to those in need.
“I have learned from it and will accept the consequences of my mistake, but I’m not the villain that the prosecution has made me out to be. I hope my negligence can be forgiven and learned from in the future.”
Finney is now 32. Her misadventure in sandblasting her boat’s hull occurred two years ago, but how she was treated by the media will last a long time in her psyche.
Someday it will be a story for the grandkids, but for now, it’s back to work for the Alaskan Girl and her crew. Work might be just what the doctor ordered to help Finney rebuild in her the sense of who she is, not who she was made out to be.
