Latest Valdez-Cordova Census Area, Alaska Stories

Traces of crude oil that linger on the shores of Alaska's Prince William Sound after the Exxon Valdez oil spill remain highly biodegradable, despite almost 20 years of weathering and decomposition, scientists are reporting in a new study. Their findings, which appear in ACS' semi-monthly journal Environmental Science & Technology, suggest a simple approach for further cleaning up remaining traces of the Exxon Valdez spill "” the largest in U.S. waters until the 2010 Deepwater Horizon...

CORDOVA, Alaska, Aug. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- The Eyak Corporation is proud to announce that The Eyak Foundation awarded a record number of scholarships in 2010 to its Alaska Native shareholders and their descendants. The Eyak Foundation awarded 23 scholarships in 2010 to applicants whose academic and career goals included undergraduate and graduate pursuits, art school, and flight school. Since its inception, The Eyak Foundation has made it possible for 126 Alaska Natives to pursue higher...

A sociologist who studied the Exxon Valdez spill told reporters on Tuesday that the mental health impacts of the BP oil spill will dwarf those encountered after the last major oil spill of U.S. shores. University of South Alabama researcher Steve Picou told Reuters that the effects of the spill will far overshadow the negative effects experienced that the Exxon tanker caused by dumping millions of gallons of crude in 1989, affecting 30,000 Alaskan residents. A "significant minority"...

Experts warned Friday that much more oil is spewing into the Gulf of Mexico from a sunken British Petroleum oil rig than officials had estimated.National Public Radio (NPR) reported that Steven Wereley, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue University, said 14 times more oil was spewing into the sea than the officially estimated 5,000 barrels a day.  Expert opinion puts the estimate at three million gallons of oil a day spilling out into the Gulf.Wereley analyzed the...

Scientists in Alaska have discovered that lingering oil from the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill is still being ingested by wildlife more than 20 years after the disaster. The research, published in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, uses biomarkers to reveal long-term exposure to oil in harlequin ducks and demonstrates how  the consequences of oil spills are measured in decades rather than years.The Exxon Valdez tanker ran aground on the Prince William Sound on March 24, 1989, spilling 10.8...

The combination of low concentrations of oxygen and nutrients in the lower layers of the beaches of Alaska's Prince William Sound is slowing the aerobic biodegradation of oil remaining from the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill, according to researchers at Temple University.Considered one of the worst environmental disasters in history, the Exxon Valdez spilled more than 11 million gallons of crude oil into Alaska's Prince William Sound, contaminating some 1,300 miles of shoreline, killing thousands of...

ISHPEMING, Mich., Jan. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Kennecott Eagle Minerals Company today said it was preparing construction plans and schedules necessary to begin building a new nickel and copper mine in Michigan's Upper Peninsula this year. Kennecott today received the final authorization it needs from the State of Michigan for the $300 million project that will create an estimated 700 new construction and mine operations jobs in the U.P. "Today's decision by the State is great news for our...

VALDEZ, Alaska, Jan. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- As December has brought record snowfalls to the Chugach Mountains of Valdez, Alaska, Alaskan helicopter and snowcat skiing firm Valdez Heli-Camps (VHC) announces a strategic alliance with Costco Wholesale Corporation. Costco Wholesale, simply known as "Costco," is the largest membership warehouse club chain in the United States. As of July 2009 it is the third largest retailer in the U.S. and the ninth largest in the world. Now for skiers and...

A tugboat collided with the same reef that the Exxon Valdez tanker hit 20 years ago, resulting in spilled fuel in Alaska's Prince William Sound and a three-mile-long slick, according to the U.S. Coast Guard on Friday.An unknown amount of diesel was leaked from the Pathfinder tug after it ran aground Wednesday on Bligh Reef. The owners of the boat were pumping the remaining diesel from the original 33,500 gallons in its tanks, reported AFP.The Coast Guard said on its website that flyovers by a...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Dec. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- If you have an Alaska traveler on your gift list, here's a stocking suffer on steroids: the Great Alaskan TourSaver. (http://www.toursaver.com) This compact guide features more than 130 travel deals: flights, cruises, lodges, fishing, whale-watching, adventures -- the works. With more than $26,000 in 2-for-1 values, the book (retail price: $99.95) can pay for itself after using just ONE coupon. TourSaver is a must-have Alaska travel vacation guide...