Alaska
Arrival of new international cargo carriers in Anchorage celebrated by state officials • Alaska Beacon
![Arrival of new international cargo carriers in Anchorage celebrated by state officials • Alaska Beacon Arrival of new international cargo carriers in Anchorage celebrated by state officials • Alaska Beacon](https://alaskabeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/DSC03961-2048x1365.jpg)
Five additional air cargo companies have started operating this year at the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, boosting an important sector of the economy in the state’s largest city, state officials said on Thursday.
The five new operators, all of them international, boost the number of cargo carriers to 39, according to the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities. Thirty-one, including the new arrivals, are international carriers, while eight are regional carriers, according to the department.
The companies newly operating in Anchorage are Awesome Cargo, based in Mexico; Central Airlines of China; ASL Air Cargo, a Belgian carrier; Aerologic Air Cargo, a German company; and CMA CGM Air Cargo, which is based in France.
Ryan Anderson, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, said the new arrivals show how the cargo business is growing in Anchorage, with the state’s help.
“We’re really focused on expanding our capacity for cargo,” he said at a news conference held at the Anchorage airport’s fire station. To that end, the department has created an interdisciplinary cargo team that is planning the changes needed to accommodate increased cargo traffic, he said.
Those plans include physical expansion of taxiways as well as modernization of energy use, such as the integration of solar energy and other renewable sources, Anderson said.
The Anchorage airport, with its strategic position between continents, has long been one of the world’s busiest for cargo traffic. For a while in 2020, at the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was the top cargo airport, though it has generally been in the second spot nationally – after Memphis, the headquarters of FedEx – and in the top five internationally.
As of 2023, Anchorage ranked fourth in the world in the amount of cargo shipped, according to Airports Council International (ACI) World, an aviation industry organization.
While cargo volume slipped a bit between 2022 and 2023, it has since increased, according to state officials. Cargo volume passing through the Anchorage airport increased 4.9% from fiscal 2023 to fiscal 2024, according to the department. Alaska’s fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30, so fiscal 2024 ended in the middle of summer.
Volume through the airport is expected to grow by another 2% this fiscal year, reaching what is anticipated to be a record 149.5 million pounds, according to the department.
Also underway at the Anchorage airport, as with all other state-operated airports, is a transition to firefighting foams that are free of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS chemicals. Linked to numerous health problems such as cancer and reproductive problems, PFAS compounds are commonly called “forever chemicals” because they are extremely persistent in the environment and in bodies of people and animals. In Alaska, as in most of the nation, the biggest source of PFAS contamination in the environment is from firefighting foams, largely those used at airports and at military sites.
A newly enacted law in Alaska requires airport fire departments to switch to non-PFAS foams by Jan. 1.
At the Anchorage airport, officials said they are striving to meet that deadline.
“It’s something we’ve been diligently working on since the legislation passed,” said Aaron Danielson, the police and fire chief at the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport.
Companies that sell non-PFAS foams have already been identified, thanks in part to the military branches that have already started switching out their foams, he said. There are now four vendors offering to sell safer foams to the state, so no supply problems are expected, he said.
The challenge will be getting all the firefighting trucks and equipment properly cleaned so that the non-PFAS foams can be used, Danielson said.
Qualified cleaners to handle PFAS-contaminated equipment are few, and they will be needed at all state-operated airports, not just Anchorage, he said. “It’ll be a process for all of us, and it’ll get phased through, to get the cleaners coming through to one department, to another department and continue moving on,” he said.
Anderson said the department has the money for the switchover in this year’s budget and that the deadline is in sight.
“We expect that this winter we will have this equipment clean, and we’ll be fully functional with the new foams,” he said. “It’s a high priority for us.”
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Alaska
Hydroponics provide year-round growing for Alaska farmers
On a recent December afternoon, Soldotna farmer Taylor Lewis preps for a day of harvesting crops. She walks to a tray filled with ripe lettuce and snips a head of it by the stem.
It’s just one of about 900 plants that Taylor and her mother-in-law Jayme Lewis will harvest and process this week – despite freezing temperatures and slushy snow outside. That’s because the duo works for Edgy Veggie, an indoor farm that grows produce year round.
“In the summer, a lot of our business drops off because folks are gardening at home. But in the winter, they’re not, because it costs money to heat your greenhouse,” Jayme said. “It costs a lot of money to heat your greenhouse.”
The company is a hydroponic farm, meaning they grow plants without soil. Hydroponic systems recycle and reuse nutrient-filled water, which minimizes waste. Specially made lighting and climate controlled conditions make it possible for Edgy Veggie to grow indoors during the winter months.
Around Thanksgiving, the company harvested 150 pounds of lettuce, enough to make about 800 salads. That took two days and was one of their biggest hauls of the year. Although not a typical harvest for the company, Jayme says she does see an uptick in business during the winter when Alaska’s produce is almost exclusively shipped up from the Lower 48.
“If you go to the grocery store and pick up a head of lettuce right now, by the time you get it home it will be wilted,” Jayme said. “That’s sad. Literally, that’s sad.”
Jayme says some local restaurants have sourced their vegetables from Edgy Veggie because they last longer and are fresher than grocery store produce.
Nestled between two train cars-turned-restaurants on the other side of town, Henry Krull walks inside his shipping container farm. He points to a wall that’s growing hundreds of bunches of butter lettuce.
Krull is the owner of fresh365, another Kenai Peninsula based hydroponic farm. Just like Edgy Veggie, the farm operates entirely indoors.
“The advantage of growing indoors, in a container like we have, is that we can control the environment,” Krull said. “We can grow no matter what’s going on outside. It can be 30 below outside, but it’s always 70 degrees or so inside.”
fresh365 also sees an uptick in direct-to-consumer sales in the winter. Otherwise, most of their sales go to other businesses, like local restaurants.
And while indoor farming means fresh, local produce year-round for Alaskans, it faces a number of challenges. Krull says growing in a hydroponic setting is much more expensive than traditional farming methods. So, to offset his farm’s energy costs, he installed solar panels, which were partially funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Energy for America Program, or REAP.
But, Krull says the property doesn’t get much sunlight in the winter.
“The sun is a very valuable commodity, it’s valuable for not only producing electricity, but it helps to lower the energy costs,” he said. “And the energy costs of the farm containers we have is actually very, very high, because we can’t take advantage of the sun.”
Edgy Veggie, on the other hand, doesn’t even have solar panels. Jayme says their energy costs are high year round.
“Electricity, especially, is outrageous,” she said. “I wish that the state had some sort of option with the electric companies to help support farming. We’re providing a service to the community, honestly. We’re trying to, but it might run us out of business.”
Other challenges to hydroponics include faulty pumps and timers, ventilation issues and water leaks. Like traditional farming, hydroponic farmers say it’s backbreaking work.
But, for farmers like Taylor Lewis, offering fresh and local produce year round is a labor of love.
“Being able to supply our community with anything fresh is great,” Taylor said. “What we have as options in the grocery store – it’s not cutting it.”
“These belong in every community,” Krull said. “We’ve been able to prove that as a business model, it works. You can make a profit doing it, you can provide a good service to your community, and I think we can really do good for our community by providing something that is not readily available on a year-round basis.”
According to the U.S Department of Agriculture, only 5% of food Alaskans consume is grown locally. The state also has very short growing seasons.
Alaska
Nature: Northern Lights above Alaska
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Alaska
Riding the rails with Santa on the Alaska Railroad Holiday Train
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – It’s not the Polar Express, exactly, but families rode a train with Santa and his elves for a festive family event.
The Holiday Train is one of several event-oriented train rides hosted by Alaska Railroads. The train made three holiday runs in the month of December, this Saturday was it’s last. Tickets to ride were completely sold out for both the afternoon and evening ride.
Passengers sang carols and shared snacks on the two and a half hour ride, but one special passenger aboard the train was a real Christmas celebrity. Santa Claus accompanied riders on their trip as they enjoyed entertainment by a magician, and left the train with holiday-themed balloon animals.
The train pulled into the Anchorage depot after it’s tour, each end of the locomotive decorated in holiday lights.
The Johnsons, a family of four who just disembarked from the train, said 2024 was their second year on the holiday train. Addie, 9, said there was a lot of entertainment and she hopes to eventually come again. Her younger brother Liam said he got to meet Santa while riding, and would like a toy truck for Christmas.
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