(JUNEAU, AK) – Over the last few weeks, the residents of the City of Anderson, AK have been experiencing a system-wide failure of their sewer system which has now infiltrated the wastewater system. The scale of the system’s failure is such that it caused wastewater to backup into town, threatening to contaminate many public facilities including City Hall and the K-12 Anderson School. Last week, the Denali Borough and the City of Anderson declared a disaster in the affected areas.
Over the weekend, Governor Dunleavy responded by issuing a disaster declaration for the City of Anderson. The declaration activates the state’s Public Assistance program that is designed to fund emergency response costs and help communities rebuild infrastructure damaged by a declared disaster.
“This is a known issue that has reached a critical point. We are pleased to see Governor Dunleavy responding with a state declaration of emergency to help the residents of Anderson to solve this long-standing problem,” said Senator Mike Shower (R, District O).
“I appreciate the quick response of the Denali Borough, the City of Anderson and the Governor for issuing declarations to help protect and bring relief to the residents of Anderson. Thank you also to Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Jason Brune and his team at Village Safe Water, whose committed attention to this issue moved it right along in a timely manner,” said Representative Kevin McCabe (R, District 30)
