U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS

The city has applied for a permit through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to demolish and expand the Robert Storrs Small Boat Harbor on Amaknak Island. Because the work would be done in an area that could affect navigation and would involve adding fill material in certain levels of tidal waters, the Army Corps has to approve the proposed renovations. Before giving the green light, though, the corps is requesting public comment.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ranks Dutch Harbor as the nation’s top port by volume. But, until recently, a shallow bar sat at the Iliuliuk Bay entrance, limiting access to the city’s bustling ports.

The Ounalashka Corp. has been awarded $2 million for cleaning up Unalaska’s Strawberry Hill Landfill.The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced in late May that it had selected the Native village corporation as part of President Joe Biden’s “Investing in America” agenda.

A long-anticipated dredging project in Unalaska is expected to commence in September despite a temporary delay in signing the project agreement earlier this week.

The Army Corps of Engineers has wrapped up to major cleanup efforts in the Unalaska Valley this summer, with more plans on the way.

The Army Corps of Engineers is cleaning up diesel-contaminated soil in Unalaska, nearing completion of the last remaining locations of their decades-long cleanup efforts in the Unalaska Valley. They contracted with the recently-formed OC Environmental Services, an environmental firm owned and operated by Unalaska’s Native corporation, to conduct the field cleanup, and say the cleanup should be finished within the next few weeks.

Munition experts will visit Unalaska on Friday to respond to what might be an unexploded device that was found on Unalaska’s shore. Fire Chief Ben Knowles responded to the call earlier in the month when someone reported a suspicious object. “A hiker came in and reported what they believed to be an old unexploded ordnance, resembling some sort of landmine, anti-personnel, or other mine,” Knowles said.

The Army Corps of Engineers is preparing to clean up Fort Learnard, a former World War II military outpost in Unalaska Bay. The fort housed anti-aircraft and anti-ship artillery at Eider Point, on the western side of the bay.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Tuesday it had received funding approval for the Unalaska Bay dredging project, which aims to clear a channel through an underwater shoal at the entrance to Iliuliuk Bay, just outside Dutch Harbor and the Unalaska Spit.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is moving forward with dredging the entrance to Iliuliuk Bay, a project that has been in the works for years. Once finished, the project would create a channel to pass through a large shoal of glacial moraine that runs across the bay. Currently, those compressed glacial boulders and rocks make the water much shallower than the surrounding areas.