400 Pounds of Purpose: A Cleanup Story 14 Years in the Making

In 2011, while attempting to hike up Mt. Herman, I came across some old batteries and radio equipment on a nearby peak. At that time, I did not have the technology or know-how to acquire the GPS coordinates of the equipment and was unsure what having that information could even be used for.

Over a decade later, I decided that it would be best to clean up that equipment, if it were still there, so I went on a little adventure to find it again. I headed out into the mountains on Spruce Island and began the search. Lo and behold, it was all still sitting there, untouched.

With a little bit of research, I was able to identify the equipment as belonging to the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) Geophysical Institute. After confirming this information, I contacted UAF and was directed to the correct department and personnel who could assist with the equipment extraction. Fortunately, UAF was eager to help.

After several weeks of communication, UAF sent down an individual with a background in these types of extractions, Dr. Helena Buurman. Dr. Buurman and I reached out to the community of Ouzinkie and were able to recruit an additional volunteer to assist with the effort: Andrew Panamarioff from the community. So, the three of us set out to clean up our lands.

After nearly two days of intense manual labor, which consisted of lugging two large sleds to the site on the mountain on foot and bringing down around 400 lbs. of metal and batteries using various tree-based pulley systems, the task with a purpose was complete.

On all accounts, this effort was one of the most strenuous that any of us had taken part in in recent history. That said, we are now proudly able to state that there are 20 fewer lead-based batteries, along with a couple of antennas and controller equipment, all set to be recycled by the Ouzinkie Environmental Protection Act team.

Thank you to Dr. Helena Buurman and Andrew Panamarioff for all of your assistance.

P.S. Don't forget to buy some Split the Pot raffle tickets in support of the Community Connectivity Center Initiative! SIDCOAlaska.org/raffles

Geremy Clarion