Alaska seeks more time to submit air-quality plan for particulate-plagued Fairbanks
Smokestack emissions into Fairbanks' atmosphere are seen on March 1, 2023, from the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/A...
Smokestack emissions into Fairbanks' atmosphere are seen on March 1, 2023, from the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon) The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation is asking for another year to come up with a plan to address the longstanding problem of particulate air pollution in the Fairbanks North Star Borough. In a letter sent to the Environmental Protection Agency's Pacific Northwest administrator, DEC Commissioner Jason Brune asked for the extension and said the federal agency's proposed requirement for better pollution controls at Fairbanks-area power plants and other large sites will drive up the local cost of living without providing meaningful environmental benefits.