Byford cleanup larger project than expected

Work to clean up the former Byford junkyard site has proven to be a larger task than first thought. Though the contaminated property is owned by the City and Borough of Wrangell, remediation is being undertaken by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation and Environmental Protection Agency Region 10.

In the latest status update, released April 22, contractors NRC Alaska and NORTECH reported their crews had unexpectedly encountered a new battery cache buried on the property. Workers at the site have since characterized the junk yard as being more of a landfill, with previous operator...