Long journey, short road
Editor’s Note: This is the second of a two-part series looking at the Pile Bay Road leading from Williamsport to Lake Iliamna. An area of economic and environmental sensitivity, Iliamna is preparing for the Pebble Partnership to complete feasibility work on its proposed copper/gold and molybdenum mine.
• History, future conflict on the primitive Pile Bay Road
By Naomi Klouda
Homer Tribune
HOMER TRIBUNE/Naomi Klouda - Iliamna Development Corp., CEO Lisa Reimers, with sister Sue Anelon, maintain an uncommitted stance to the Pebble Project but develop ideas for bringing jobs to the villages with IDC's transportation and construction projects. Some of those involve Pebble.
When the state fixed a 6-mile segment of the Pile Bay Road outside Iliamna last summer for $6.2 million, they built pullouts to take some of the pressure off its limitations as a one-way gravel road.
The newly built turnouts allow a northbound truck to pull over if a southbound one comes along, as well as providing spots for emergency pullovers.
Already considered dangerous for its narrowness, the transportation route through lush green wilderness and lavender mountains is made a further hazard by boats, equipment and vehicles parked in some of the only pullouts available along the 15.5 mile road.
Rep. Alan Austerman, R-Kodiak, represents District 36 that encompasses much of the Bristol Bay region. On a trip three weeks ago, he drove the road to learn more and help sort out access issues plaguing it.
“Better access to that area is my priority. One thing constantly brought to me is economic development of my region,” Austerman said. “I went there to take a look at any possibilities of making improvements; just what it would take so these villages can haul freight and make it more economical to survive.”
Travel still moves relatively slowly on Pile Bay Road; an arduous hour-long ride across many streams and lush green tundra.
“It is a primitive road,” Austerman concedes. “There is some ability to do improvements — and they did do some — but it is a utility road.”
The M/V Polar Bear barge hauls fuel and freight under lease for IDC, pulling in revenue and creating jobs that weren’t available before.
“IDC has shown you can get the cost of fuel down by trucking it (to Homer) and getting it over by barge,” Austerman said.
Following the trip on the Polar Bear, supplies are trucked, then barged on Iliamna Lake to get to their final destinations. The total distance from Homer to Iliamna is about 88 miles, but takes about 15 hours to travel.
Austerman said he thinks the biggest obstacle to future economic prospects is the tidal access to Pile Bay at Williamsport. It’s too shallow to receive barges all but a few high-tide days of each month.
“That’s where the hang-up is,” he explained. “At low tide, the mud flats are pretty far out there. One of the issues is getting it to a point where it is more usable.”
Austerman said he is looking at the possibility of getting a U.S. Army Corp permit to dredge a deeper port.
On June 6, 2009, as the Iliamna Development Corp. was in the beginning stages of fine-tuning how to get fuel to a region that previously suffered high prices due to having fuel flown in — a tanker-trailer loaded with diesel fuel tipped over on Pile Bay Road, spilling some 1,400 gallons on the ground.
“We weren’t fully operational yet,” IDC’s Chief Executive Officer Lisa Reimers explained. “The fuel was for our own use in the village.”
HOMER TRIBUNE/Naomi Klouda - Dakota Zellin and Gary Longhenry from Homer are employed on the Polar Bear Barge that runs fuel to Williamsport.
Yet, when word of the incident quickly spread, IDC was purported to have spilled fuel destined for Pebble. It was yet another strike against the project, offered as proof that the giant mining venture couldn’t be pulled off without major environmental hazards — even in these early feasibility stages.
According to an Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation report, “ADEC staff on scene reviewed the loading records for the tanker trailer and the emergency off-loading and estimated the spill to be approximately 1,400 gallons.”
The report further indicated that, “the fuel trailer was found on the ground with the landing gear collapsed. During the collapse, the landing gear punctured the front holding tank of the trailer, creating a hairline crack along a weld and a half-inch hole in the tank.”
Steve Reimers, IDC’s director of operations, called the equipment malfunction a “fluke.”
On land leased from a private landowner at Mile 11, the IDC set about reclaiming the area, digging up contaminated soils before fuel could sink into the water table and enter one of the many nearby creeks that drain into Lake Iliamna.
The IDC says it is complying with DEC requirements and is nearly finished with the reclamation work.
Historic road in a modern age
The Pile Bay Road was built by the Alaska Territorial Road Commission in the 1920s, expanding a walking trail used for hundreds of years by Athabascan, Yupik, Aleut and later, Russian traders and American gold miners into the area.
Ray Williams, son of pioneer Carl Williams, recounted the history of the road when his dad came north from New York state.
“Dad came in 1934 for health reasons. He was 6 feet 2inches tall, but weighed only 100 pounds,” Williams said. “In 1936, he bought an existing trading post that moved freight when the road was barely one lane. He would carry freight up, sometimes on his back. Later he used a truck. ”
Williamsport was named for the pioneering family.
Ray Williams inherited a substantial portion of land at Williamsport and Iliamna Lake. He carried on his dad’s freight business, expanding it to include fuel, and hiring the M/V Helenka barge to get it from Homer to Williamsport.
A sign over the Iliamna River bridge tells Carl Williams’ story, honoring him as a pioneer. Further down the river, Old Iliamna Village — abandoned after flu epidemics — isn’t mentioned.
Hard feelings between Williams and Alaska Natives living at the new Iliamna have escalated recently over private-versus public ownership. Resolving the issues will involve Gov. Parnell’s office, DOT and Rep. Austerman. One of the most important reasons for getting it resolved is to make the road safer.
“We’re trying to get along with Ray Williams. We just want to do this safely and follow the regulations,” Reimers said.
Last season’s spill is blamed in part on the access war; with so few available pullouts, the IDC truckers had to stage the tanker where they could.
“Many of the pullouts are clogged,” Steve Reimers added. “That’s a safety issue.”
HOMER TRIBUNE/Naomi Klouda - The Barge is loaded with goods for Illiamna Lake villagers at the Homer port.
Williams said his property lines were cut back for public-right-of way at the port side.
“We’re looking at getting the road moved over so it doesn’t cut down the middle of Ray Williams’ property,” Austerman said. “As for the pullouts, some of those are privately owned. We’re looking at that too.”
For the past three years, since IDC has worked as a contractor for the Pebble Project, tribal members and leaders are often confronted where ever anti-Pebble forces come together to discuss how to block the giant mine from becoming a reality.
“We continue to tell people we are not pro-Pebble or anti-Pebble,” Lisa Reimers said. “We want to keep job growth and have continuity.”
Greg Anelon agreed.
“We’re telling our young people they can get jobs if they get the training,” he said. “Our cultures are changed now. We’re not asking for money, we’re asking for jobs.”
At a contentious meeting this winter between anti-Pebble forces and Iliamna villagers, the discussion swung, as it inevitably does, to protecting the cultural resources of fish at all costs.
Anelon said he asked which culture they were referring to.
“Are you speaking of our parent’s generation? They did everything by dog team or by walking. Are they talking about my generation? We use four wheelers and outboard engines, gas, bullets, guns. Subsistence doesn’t come cheap,” he explained. “Or are they talking about my children’s culture, because that’s different too. They like their technology, their iPods.”
The bottom line is, it all costs money.
Jobs identified as needed immediately — heavy equipment operation, crane operators, drillers’ helpers — are the impetus behind the training IDC encourages its tribal members to participate in. Last winter, 10 new graduates completed various licenses.
“We have no idea if this mine will go through,” Reimers said. “But our goal is to be involved in all the talks if it does go through. If something does happen, we want to be there to make sure it gets done right.”
Pile Bay Road
Pebble’s plans
Ironically, if Pebble Mine does become a reality, it won’t happen for another 20 years. After state permitting in 2011, the project then undergoes the requirements of the National Environmental Protection Act, requiring another five years of studies. Then, presumably around 2016-2017, another segment of preparatory development — getting energy installed for power to the mine, constructing transportation routes, setting infrastructure in place — must occur before any rock can be blasted.
Pebble Partnership’s Chief Executive Officer, John Shively, said the mining company has looked at part of the Pile Bay Road. Initially, the idea was to improve it on Pebble’s dime to make it useful for transporting ore to shipments. Now the Partnership says it is eyeing another possible port just down from Williamsport.
“Our plan is to have a road that comes from the mine and uses some of the (Pile Bay) road as part of the route,” he said. “We would need to build a significant port facility, and are looking Iniskin Bay. There’s deeper water there.”
Shively said ownership issues would still need to be sorted out, since some of the land at Iniskin Bay is owned by Native corporations or is eligible for selection by CIRI village corporations.
Tyonek and Seldovia Village Corporations own land on the Williamsport side.
“Some of those (land) issues are resolved and some are not,” Shively said. “But it is important that the state improves the road because it makes a positive economic impact on the lake villages. And we support that even if it doesn’t work for us.”
Posted by Newsroom on Aug 25th, 2010 and filed under Headline News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
10 Responses for “Long journey, short road”
Comments are closed
As I read this article, many things catch my eye. One being the quote that Ray Williams inherited a substantial amount of land at Williamsport. So I did a search on the kenei peninsula borough website. It says that Ray Williams has 25 acres. If that is a substantial amount then what would you call mine. I have 160 acres that I obtained through the native rights act. Now I have never been to Williamsport but I can understand him trying to protect what land he has. Especially since it has been in the family since 1934. Seems to me some people are crying over what the don’t have therefore blaming someone else. Back in 1934 there wouldn’t have been this issue.
Save our fisheries, say NO to pebble.
Land will always be an issue with the Pebble Mine and other resouces in Alaska. I do not support Pebble Mine and would rather they fly thier supplies and profits out of the region. The area is so rich in renewable resources to put a road would deplete the area of what local residents use yearly. Iliamna residents have never used this area of the lake, until Pebble became their resource. I know it has been used for years and the Williams have operated a freight service to the lake area. I remember when I was younger going to Pile Bay with my dad to get fuel and gas. That was the only way we were able to get it. The Williams also freighted supplies to the lake area villages by hauling them over the road. I as a kid have seen 32 ft boats going down thelake to fish in Bristol Bay that were hauled over by the William family. This road may need improvements but lets keep it as is, there is no need to make it accessable for the mine, they can fly their stuff if they have so much money to build. Iliamna people have not used the area that is mentioned until Pebble came their. To say they need to haul fuel to cut cost is a false statement. If they want cheaper fuel they can fly it in as they have always been doing for years. Tell them to Contact Fred and Wilma Filstone to take Pebble back home, We like our regiona s it is.
You can call it a right-of-way war or what ever the only right-of-way in question is at Williams Port and Pile Bay. IDC or Pebble needs to get off there rear and lease some land from the proper Native corporations and make there own pull outs. I have been it the area for over 60 years and I have seen it all. IDC is acting like thy are the first ones to ever haul fuel to the lake. I can assure you they are wrong. In the 40,50 and 60 it was hauled from Seldovia to Williams port in 55 gallon drums and what was called blazo boxes which held two 5 gallon cans. There are very few old timers left on the lake that remember that. I recall Carl Williams buying a complete winter grub stake for some native families that didn’t do good fishing. There was no food stamps or other help like today. He also hauled bots and never got paid because of a poor season. So lets set back and thank the Williams for what they have done. Now to the oil spill no body in there right mind would park a loaded tanker of fuel with in 150 ft of a salmon stream. Nothing was said about the fuel that ran in the river. Nothing was said about Ray and his crew there to help stop the leak. Nothing was said about after the diesel soaked material was hauled off to a staging area and not covered up. Nothing was said about it then leaching back into a stream and then back to the river. I agree 100% with Pappy. So IDC and Pebble get it together you act like Ray is saying he owns the road not so it is a public road. But he does own the property at Williams port. Very simple don’t park on his property and stop plugging up the road.
Naomi – In order to write on this you must have gone over the Pile Bay – Williamsport road right??? Did you happen to notice how many turn outs there were? And did you ask Ray Williams what equipment/trucks along the road were his? Because if I recall when I was there…only the dozer and grader are owned by Ray Williams himself – which he uses for maintaining the road so that it is PASSABLE and can be used by others. Yes it is a state “maintained” road, but villages around the lake get more money to cut brush than is contracted every year for the road to be maintained. And even if all the turnouts were full (which they are NOT) If a driver needs to check their load or hitches you can stop in the middle of the road – it isnt like this is a “freeway” or busy road that one couldnt stop in a safe place on a straight stretch to check ones load. Ask the Williams’ they probably do it all the time and have since 1936.
Naomi…one thing you missed in Williamsport is that Carl’s brother is buried there on the Williamsport property. The Williams’ seem to be fighting for their 25 ACRES and the fact that they have a family burial sight there.
I am with Austerman “We’re looking at getting the road moved over so it doesn’t cut down the middle of Ray Williams’ property,” If the solution is as simple a moving the road then why is IDC making such an issue out of it?
Just a quick side note: When one has a FULL tanker trailer of fuel the driver should NEVER unhook from the trailer – no matter where the tanker trailer is parked! Just think of how much 10,000 gallons of gas must weigh…this was no “fluke” with the landing gear – NO landing gear is going to hold up to 10,000 gallons of gas weight. And one more note: this was not a creek close by this was the ILIAMNA RIVER which is world known for is trout fishing!!!
The letters above demonstrate a pre-disposed loyalty to the Williams’ family, which is all well and good. From my reading, the writer didn’t state any negative facts about Williams. As one who lives in the region and works with these tribes, I would caution you to avoid hate-talk about Alaska’s Native people just to uphold an old pioneering family who was not malaligned and to condemn Pebble. Everyone dislikes Pebble – discussing economic opportunities for the region and making those work would save or help toward pushing out the need for such jobs from Pebble.
Narrow minded people are often short-sighted, as is shown in the above opinions. No doubt Williams is a fine family and Ray is a fine man. But that does not mean the road shouldn’t be fixed, that it isn’t owned by the state or that IDC shouldn’t operate on it.
Your details about the spill are wrong, incidentally, so-called Concerned Alaskan. A concerned Alaskan should try to care about many points, not spread lies. 10,000 gallons wasn’t the content and a forced parking was the point. Safety is the point. These kinds of hateful letters are dispiriting to all. Please write with more common sense and compassion about your favorite people/causes.
Diane I think you have missed the point here. It really doesn’t make any difference whether it was 40 gallons or 10,00gallons of fuel the pint is you don’t park it near the river. And for your information it was diesel and it does not evaporate like gas. I must have missed the part some place where we hated Natives. I fore one am a white man and proud of it that being said I was raised in a native village on the lake. The Native people were like mother dad brother and sisters to us we were all treated alike. I really don’t think you go that far back when all of the villages jumped in and helped one another. As I said in my previous note it is a public road for every one to use. I don’t think you are keeping up to date on things that are going on in Williams port. I really don’t know where you live at but how would you like it if you came home and there were a dozen big trucks parked in your drive way and yard. This is the problem at Williams port. So keep up on the facts not the hear say.
Thank you Richard!
Diane, I am concerned in more ways than one and I hate to see anyone be degraded!
FYI also, it WAS a 10,000 gallon tanker trailer and less than a 1/4 mile down the road is a LARGE pullout that is always empty for trucks to pullover, so this pullout could have been used instead of right by the Iliamna River Bridge. Also this same pullout was used to put the contaminated soil before it was moved over the road to the leased property. It may have only been approx. 1,400 gallons spilled, but thanks to the Williams Family (as stated above) they brought their equipment and gas tank over to help with the spill issue.
Ray williams, I’ve had the privelidge and the pleasure to work with RAY Williams. The year was 1986…just got out of the army and was looking for a new begining. I knew Ray from some longtime family friends. NATIVE friends, see I’m alaska native 82nd airborne …I had previously worked for ALEX FLYUM…skipper of the NANUK…! Ray and Linda are near and dear friends, and also TRUE alaskans not by word…but better by their deeds. Which is the true defintion of anybody…where is YOUR real ambitions and GOALS at? I feel lucky to have known RAY&LINDA WILLIAMS…good people…great ALASKANS
I found this reply from a previous news article that I found very interesting.
The Pebble Partners may be between a rock and a hard place in their relationship with the IDC. This incompetence around the fuel spill is troubling. Also, is the IDC the same people that post all the “Illiamna Natives Only” signs on the trails around the village, and sends their kids out on 4-wheelers to crush berries around white people that are out berry-picking? If so, one has to wonder what the IDC intends to develop, and if it will benefit all in the region. No easy answers here.
This answers a lot of questions about IDC. If not who is behind this?