In late April the American Bald Eagle Foundation contacted its renters with concerns that floodwater could have contaminated their farm. Nick Schlosstein and his wife Leah Wagner make their living working the half-acre farm and selling seeds as Foundroot. They’ve been on the land for the last five seasons but were told that was not an option for this season.

“Their communication was that nobody would be allowed on the field, and they weren’t sure when people would be allowed back out there,” said Schlosstein.

December’s record rain cut large ruts into the main crop field at what’s called the Henderson Farm. Sand, gravel, and debris flowed into the field which sits directly below a defunct petroleum pipeline that ran from Haines to Fairbanks, Alaska, and was decommissioned in 1973. Historically, the pipeline suffered many leaks as well as a major spill at the tank farm near Lutak Road.

Multiple studies were done on the soil around the pipeline but none showed unsafe contamination levels according to state officials. The American Bald Eagle Foundation declined to comment at this time.

For 2021, the couple had planned a series of infrastructure upgrades including building an additional hoop house on their own property and expanding their farm plot on the Henderson Farm from a half-acre to a full-acre, but those plans would change. The couple was forced to find storage for all of their farm equipment, lay off an employee, and radically change their projected business model for this year.

Schlosstein says they are poised to lose the entirety of their summer farm sales which they projected to be half of their annual income. 

“We’re going to be able to keep offering seed, but what we were unable to do this year is to continue our seed breeding efforts and also to continue building our farm for local produce.”

Foundroot wasn’t the only business facing removal. The Henderson Community Garden which sells produce to local customers through farmer’s markets has also been shut down. Sue Waterhouse runs the project and says she was all set to plant this spring.

“Last fall, you know, we tilled the land. We put seaweed on it, we put it to bed and we paid rent for this season,” said Waterhouse.

But the American Bald Eagle Foundation was clear: because of possible contamination to the field, all renters would be refunded their 2021 rent payments. Like Foundroot, members of the gardening group were instructed to have all possessions removed by the end of May.

Waterhouse says she moved her operation to a small plot at the Southeast Alaska Fair Grounds and will continue to grow as much produce as she can from there. 

The Foundation tasked the Takshanuk Watershed Council with the job of collecting samples and sending them out to a lab in Anchorage. Those samples came back late last week and did show the presence of some contaminants. The level of contamination has not been established, neither has a plan for cleanup nor for future business operations.

The Department of Environmental Conservation along with the Takshanuk Watershed Council will provide details as they become available.