As determined by Tuesday’s submitted ballots, the community of Shishmaref will relocate to one of two potential sites. Certified results were 94 in favor of relocating and 78 in favor of staying in place and protecting.
Two potential relocation sites have been surveyed and selected by a collaborative effort between the Army Engineer Corps and Shishmaref community members. Old Pond and West Tin Creek are both across the lagoon from Shishmaref. Old Pond is further inland than West Tin Creek.
Minnie Olanna, one of approximately 600 residents in Shishmaref and the chairperson for the elections judges, says there are many factors to consider when voting for relocation, including impending storms.
“I think that it might be better to leave; you know, we’ve had mild storms, and they haven’t really been real bad like the one in the past. At least some of us think that we’re going to have a real bad one pretty soon, ’cause these ones have been kind of mild,” Olanna said.
And when she considered the future generations, Olanna recalled, “what kind of persuaded my vote was just to think of our kids, ’cause I have an 8-year-old daughter, and I thought of how she’d inherit my house, so (I’ve) got to think of her future.”
Another challenge that is a concern for some residents is how they will receive gas and oil shipments at either of the two relocation sites. According to Army Engineer Corps surveys, the land at West Tin Creek is shallow and is not deep enough for a barge or tanker to port, while Old Pond would require a connecting road from Nome to be built in order for fuel shipments to reach them.
It is estimated that relocation will cost $180 million, but Mayor Howard Weyiouanna says protecting in place would have been the cheaper option.
“From all of the studies and reports that the departments that we work with, the State and Federal government, they’re saying it would be, how do I put this, that it would be a whole lot cheaper to stay and protect instead of moving the whole community,” said Weyiouanna.
Within the next year, a follow-up vote will take place in Shishmaref to determine which of the two sites the community will relocate to.
