Coast Guard members from Sector Anchorage returned to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson Aug. 30 after conducting Marine Safety Task Force missions out of Bethel, Alaska, August 22-30, 2022.
Teams comprised of six Coast Guard marine inspectors and two Environmental Protection Agency inspectors visited a total of 20 communities and inspected approximately 50 bulk fuel storage facilities, with transportation from Bethel to more remote communities provided by three Alaska Army National Guard members and three Civil Air Patrol pilots. Coast Guard and EPA inspectors also held a government initiated unannounced exercise August 25 at Crowley Fuels in Bethel.
Inspectors flew commercially from Anchorage to Bethel August 22, and teams flew out of Bethel daily, weather permitting, either aboard an Alaska Army National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter or a Civil Air Patrol plane.
Coast Guard inspectors met with representatives in each community and discussed opportunities for federal compliance with facility managers and operators in the communities of Akiachak, Bethel, Chefornak, Chevak, Eek, Goodnews Bay, Kasigluk, Marshall, Mekoryuk, Mountain Village, Napakiak, Newtok, Nunapitchuk, Oscarville, Pilot Station, Quinhagak, Russian Mission, Sleetmute, St. Mary’s and Toksook Bay.
“Thanks to support from both the Civil Air Patrol and Alaska Army National Guard, we were able to travel to 20 communities in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta and surrounding area,” said Petty Officer 3rd Class Jonathan Holman, a team leader on the deployment. “Being able to visit these communities and discuss with facility operators ways of attaining federal compliance greatly enhances our ability to protect both the people who live there and the maritime environments they rely on for subsistence.”
