Belugas blamed for Anchorage port expansion delays - May 16, 2010

Providing coverage of Alaska and northern Canada's oil and gas industryMay 2010

Vol. 15, No. 20

Week of May 16, 2010

Belugas blamed for Anchorage port expansion delays

Protections for beluga whales in Alaska’s Cook Inlet have added to cost overruns and delays in the Port of Anchorage expansion.

Port Director Bill Sheffield told The Anchorage Daily News the latest cost estimate is more than $750 million — double the estimate three years ago. And the project that was supposed to be completed by 2015 will take until 2017.

Crews are erecting a mile-and-a-half seawall made of steel and back-filled with dirt and gravel. Steel sheets are being pounded into the seabed, but work has to stop if a whale comes within eight-tenths of a mile. That and restrictions on hours of operation and noise have added millions to the cost.

Sheffield says the port is vital because it serves 85 percent of the population of Alaska.

Information from: Anchorage Daily News, http://www.adn.com

—The Associated Press

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