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Is this an issue here? My wife is pregnant and we are considering moving to Fairbanks for a job soon. We also have a 1.5 yr old. I am trying to get the details on the air quality here. The AQI looks fine for the data, but it looks like the local sensors may not be sensing up SO2 and the historical data is hard to interpret. Any thoughts on this? I lived in Salt Lake City for a while and we just dont want to be stuck in the inverted muck again, and definitely dont want to be anywhere near the drift from any plant. Fairbanks is such a beautiful place and its a shame to be critical about this but its important for us to breathe clean air. Any other local environment hazards we need to be aware of? Does anyone have honest info on this? Thanks so much.
Fairbanks is known for occasionally having poor air quality, for sure. I think it's a combination of factors, with any and all emissions of particulates contributing to the problem.
[As background, I used to run the air quality control program in Fairbanks and have continued to follow air pollution issues up there since moving away from Fairbanks.]
Fairbanks gets very strong surface based temperature inversions that trap pollutants in the first 100-200 feet above ground level. The local newspaper just had an article yesterday - https://www.newsminer.com/features/s...665e3b5d3.html - about this.
The State has required everyone to switch from #2 to #1 home heating fuel (https://dec.alaska.gov/air/anpms/com...h-requirement/) so I expect future SO2 and other sulfur emissions to be even lower than historical levels. EPA has taken the position that even #1 fuel isn't clean enough and ultra-low sulfur fuel should be required. Because ULS fuel would be quite a bit more expensive this is one of the primary issues of contention between EPA and the State/Borough over how to lower PM2.5 levels in Fairbanks.
My opinions on the issues you expressed in your post are:
Quote:
Originally Posted by pbaker87
The AQI looks fine for the data, but it looks like the local sensors may not be sensing up SO2 and the historical data is hard to interpret. Any thoughts on this?
I don't believe SO2 and other wintertime sulfur emissions are high enough to be of concern.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pbaker87
I lived in Salt Lake City for a while and we just dont want to be stuck in the inverted muck again, and definitely dont want to be anywhere near the drift from any plant.
There really isn't any drift from local power plants. At lesser wintertime inversion strengths the power plant plumes punch through the surface based inversion and have no impact on what you breathe at ground level. Under the strongest inversions the power plant emissions may or may not be trapped within the inversion and become all mixed together with other emissions - the science on this is currently unclear.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pbaker87
I lived in Salt Lake City for a while and we just dont want to be stuck in the inverted muck again
The wintertime PM2.5 problem is a signficant issue for the susceptible population. Summertime forest fires can also result in elevated particulate levels. Different folks have different opinions on both of these but it's definitely something for you to consider if you have strong concerns about wanting to breathe clean air.
Fairbanks is known for occasionally having poor air quality, for sure. I think it's a combination of factors, with any and all emissions of particulates contributing to the problem.
I have friends who live in FBNKS (one of whom works for ADEC's Air Quality division) and some personal experience. If air quality is such a concern for you OP, Fairbanks wouldn't be my first choice for a place to live in AK. While the specific pollutants situation may change, the weather patterns and local topography that have a lot to say about local air quality won't. Regulations and restrictions on industrial pollutants may be improving some aspects but lengthening wildfire seasons and intensity of burns due to climate change are real.
Last edited by Parnassia; 03-06-2023 at 04:46 PM..
Thank you for the reply RW that helps a lot and that was very very good information . The wildfire smoke is not an issue for us as we are from Idaho and are very used to this. It is more of the plant drift that I am worried about as you can choose to live in a town with active coal plants but wildfire is a very large natural occurrence that is impacting a third of the world. It sounds like you can possibly get above the inversion if you end up perched up on the hills by some means? We might just camp out up north of town initially. Well darn I just truly hope the main source of pollutant is not the local plants It seems they have been pinged by EPA pretty hard in the past. It seems to be a combo of wood stove emission and vehicles. Our inversions last bit a month at worst where I live which elevates PM levels significantly, but the clear days do come with wind helping year round.
Living in the hills around Fairbanks would certainly subject you to much lower levels of air pollution plus it's quite a bit warmer at these higher elevations. Even so, I would counsel against thinking you can camp out all winter long. Interior Alaska is a very cold place in the winter and outside camping isn't really feasible especially with a couple of little ones. Even living in some sort of RV for a winter in Fairbanks would be a extermely ambitious undertaking.
Thank you for the reply RW that helps a lot and that was very very good information . The wildfire smoke is not an issue for us as we are from Idaho and are very used to this. It is more of the plant drift that I am worried about as you can choose to live in a town with active coal plants but wildfire is a very large natural occurrence that is impacting a third of the world. It sounds like you can possibly get above the inversion if you end up perched up on the hills by some means? We might just camp out up north of town initially. Well darn I just truly hope the main source of pollutant is not the local plants It seems they have been pinged by EPA pretty hard in the past. It seems to be a combo of wood stove emission and vehicles. Our inversions last bit a month at worst where I live which elevates PM levels significantly, but the clear days do come with wind helping year round.
The smoke from wildfires in the interior of Alaska are nothing compared to the smoke you may see in Idaho. Just in June 2022 (one month alone) 1.8 million acres burned to wildfires. Also, we have several coal-burning power plants in and outside Fairbanks. The EPA and the borough can try whatever they can, but will never be able to stop the wood stove smoke drifting into Fairbanks from outside the borough. Blame "mother lightning strikes" for most wildfires in Alaska
I do understand the RV situation is out of the question in the Alaskan winter. We may look into the hills at homes. It seems for 300-350k you could get into something livable. I would like to ask about heating costs. It seems the best option is a quality wood stove. What are you guys burning up there fir? Wood cuts seem plentiful. A bit of a tangent from the subject but I feel it’s directly related to the air issues… makes me wonder why gas and electric are not utilized more in Fairbanks I’m sure there is good reason as oil is king hence APFund $ 1000 checks per person?, and all electric forced air might run you 300 per month for 1600 sqft? It costs to be environmental but I thought natgas was also prevalent in AK.
Another sidebar question, what’s up with the property taxes? They seem exponentially high? For anyone that his lived in the lower 48 and Alaska, is this very noticeable monetarily ? Or does the lack of other taxes in AK fully balance this?
I do understand the RV situation is out of the question in the Alaskan winter. We may look into the hills at homes. It seems for 300-350k you could get into something livable. I would like to ask about heating costs. It seems the best option is a quality wood stove. What are you guys burning up there fir? Wood cuts seem plentiful. A bit of a tangent from the subject but I feel it’s directly related to the air issues… makes me wonder why gas and electric are not utilized more in Fairbanks I’m sure there is good reason as oil is king hence APFund $ 1000 checks per person?, and all electric forced air might run you 300 per month for 1600 sqft? It costs to be environmental but I thought natgas was also prevalent in AK.
Another sidebar question, what’s up with the property taxes? They seem exponentially high? For anyone that his lived in the lower 48 and Alaska, is this very noticeable monetarily ? Or does the lack of other taxes in AK fully balance this?
Developing, operating, and maintaining infrastructure for utilities is expensive, particularly expensive in such a harsh climate. Just sourcing the materials and equipment from here is a logistical headache. AK may have the raw materials used to manufacture them but it doesn't produce much if anything for itself. Everything must be bought and shipped from south 48 suppliers.
Development also takes time. Even more time where every mile costs more due to terrain, climate, and inconvenient realities like permafrost. Remember, AK is a pretty young state (statehood in 1959)! There are many places here where public utilities simply don't exist...yet. How would you imagine electricity gets generated where local hydro or nuclear isn't available? Plants burning fossil fuels which in turn impacts air quality! I certainly can't speak to all the reasons why prop taxes seem relatively high in Fairbanks not having been a resident there. I'll let members who are debate that. However, once again due to the higher cost of providing infrastructure/services for the public, they probably end up being proportionally higher than many places in the south 48. Regardless which tax infrastructure/services $ is generated by (property, sales, business, or income) they still need to be paid for. All taxes are political footballs political campaigns use to their advantage.
Last edited by Parnassia; 03-07-2023 at 01:22 PM..
I do understand the RV situation is out of the question in the Alaskan winter. We may look into the hills at homes. It seems for 300-350k you could get into something livable. I would like to ask about heating costs. It seems the best option is a quality wood stove. What are you guys burning up there fir? Wood cuts seem plentiful. A bit of a tangent from the subject but I feel it’s directly related to the air issues… makes me wonder why gas and electric are not utilized more in Fairbanks I’m sure there is good reason as oil is king hence APFs $ 1000 checks per person?, and all electric forced air might run you 300 per month for 1600 sqft? It costs to be environmental but I thought natgas was also prevalent in AK.
Another sidebar question, what’s up with the property taxes? They seem exponentially high? For anyone that his lived in the lower 48 and Alaska, is this very noticeable monetarily ? Or does the lack of other taxes in AK fully balance this?
a. Wood, pellet, and coal stoves: not allowed in the borough whenever there is an EPA air quality notice, something that happens 80% or more during the winter months. However is is allowed by the hills and other areas within the borough that do not fall into the areas the EPA monitors. The specific areas are listed at the Borough website. Heating fuel is widely used in the borough for heating, since natural gas is scarce. Coal is used to generate electricity and steam heat within the city. Electricity, is extremely expensive. In fact its cost would put Alaska right on top of the national charts.
Using natural gas for heating would be fine for new home construction. The problem is that converting from heating fuel to natural gas boilers and furnaces is out of the reach of a lot of residents, and also that natural gas in not available all over the borough. On new construction one could have a gas boiler, plus a natural gas or propane below the ground storage tank. In this case you can build a super-insulated home too, but older homes are not insulated as well once the house settles.
Just imagine this: lest say that this winter my boiler consumes 200 gallons of heating fuel per two month, so I cal the fuel company to deliver 200 gallons of fuel. If the price of fuel per gallon is today (03/07/2023) starts at $4.50 per gallon x 100 gallons of fuel delivered to your home. It means that you will be spending nearly $900.00 to have 200 gallons delivered to you home every two or three times during the colder winter days. There goes you PDF check
b. Property tax: a lot higher than most states, except for a very few.
c. This is the bottomline: the cost of living in Alaska is one of the highest in the nation. While wages-depending on the type of work you do or who work for-may be higher than some other places, you will still end-up spending your money in order to live in Alaska.
This is the Fairbanks North Star Borough quarterly report for 2022. It is a "pdf" document that shows most costs incurred by all Fairbanks borough residents. Keep in mind that you will find all kinds of website advertising high-paying jobs, "but the details are in the pudding" https://www.fnsb.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/349
Last edited by RayinAK; 03-07-2023 at 05:07 PM..
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