No Answers Yet on Food Safety at Narrow Cape

Jay Barrett/KMXT

A representative from U.S. Army Missile Defense Command said it is unlikely that the organization will be able to send someone to the next Kodiak Local Emergency Planning meeting.

In a letter to Kodiak Island Borough assistant planner Jack Maker, the public affairs specialist from the Missile Defense Command said that they would prefer someone not from the Alaska Aerospace Corporation speak before the group, but they wouldn’t be able to make it themselves.

According to Missile Defense spokesman John Cummings said sending a representative from Huntsville, Alabama is quote, “difficult to support.”

He did attach a brief summary of activities AAC, the Army and Missile Defense and its clean up contractors have been doing since the explosion on August 25th. 

In it, Cummings says clean up has been conducted six days a week, and additional manpower has been added to try and complete it in December.

Cummings did not address questions about what explosive or other hazardous material that still needs to be cleaned up, or if food gathered from the area will be safe to eat. Berries grow in the area and cattle and buffalo graze there, sometimes right up to Kodiak Launch Complex infrastructure. The Pasagshak River, an important salmon stream, is nearby.

Cummings did write that after clean up is complete, the next step will be to conduct an environmental investigation to determine if any residual contamination remains. He said in his letter that would include water and soil. Requests for proposals from potential clean up contractors have already been issued.

As for the failure of the rocket to launch, Cummings said an investigation is ongoing and could take a few more months to conclude. He said ACC personnel are removing KLC debris and have informed the state of Alaska’s Division of Risk Management that they will be pursuing a claim through the state’s insurance pool to pay for rebuilding the launch site.

Cummings said a website has been set up to take questions about the Narrow Cape clean up. http://KLC-INFO.mil-tec.com