Sagwon, Alaska

Last updated

Sagwon
Unincorporated community
BLUFFS OPPOSITE SAGWON, A COMMERCIAL AIRSTRIP AND OIL EXPLORATION CENTER SOUTH OF PRUDHOE BAY. VIEW IS WEST ACROSS... - NARA - 550396.jpg
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Sagwon
Location within the state of Alaska
Coordinates: 69°22′0″N148°42′0″W / 69.36667°N 148.70000°W / 69.36667; -148.70000
Country United States
State Alaska
Borough North Slope
Government
 • Borough mayor Harry K. Brower, Jr.
 •  State senator Donny Olson (D)
 •  State rep. Dean Westlake (D)
Elevation
675 ft (206 m)
Time zone UTC-9 (Alaska (AKST))
 • Summer (DST) UTC-8 (AKDT)
Area code 907

Sagwon (short for Sag No. 1, see below) is a location 65 miles south of Deadhorse in North Slope Borough, Alaska, United States named after a now-vanished airline operating base built there in the 1960s to support oil exploration and subsequent construction of the Trans Alaska Pipeline System. It is above the Arctic Circle. It is known for the Gallagher Flint Station Archeological Site which was discovered during the construction of the pipeline. [1]

Contents

History

Sagwon was an operating base created by Interior Airways in the early 1960s to support oil exploration that resulted in finding the Prudhoe Bay Oil Field. It also supported construction of the pipeline in the mid 1970s. A runway was dug out of the tundra, eventually extended to over 5,000 ft with a set of lights to allow night operation. Interior Airways built a mess hall, accommodation, maintenance and other support buildings including an aircraft control tower, all flown in. [2]

The site is adjacent to the Sagavanirktok (or Sag) River and was originally designated Sag No. 1, or, for short, Sag One. Hence, Sagwon. [3]

Sagwon also functioned as a local base camp. A 1969 article describes creating an oil drilling site 75 miles from Sagwon. Earthmoving equipment and Caterpillar tractors were flown to Sagwon on Lockheed L-100 Hercules aircraft (a civil version of the C-130 military transport aircraft), then the tractors dragged enough equipment to the drilling site to create its own landing strip, after which flights went direct to the drilling site. At the time there was virtually no environmental regulation governing such activity. In all, 140 Hercules loads were needed to establish that specific drilling site, though as indicated, not all went through Sagwon. At that time, all supplies were flown in, including diesel fuel. [4]

External links has a link to a short film of an Interior Airways Hercules flight from Fairbanks to Sagwon. There is also a link to photos of Sagwon in 1972, prior to the pipeline boom.

By 1973, however, focus started to shift to the Happy Valley airstrip located 15–20 miles south. Sagwon was located on the wrong side of the Sag River from the Dalton Highway (then known as the North Slope Haul Road). [5] In 1982, five years after the completion of the pipeline, Interior Airways, now named Alaska International Air, advertised the site for sale. [6] In 1999, the control tower remained on top of an old office, windows broken. [5]

There was a superfund site at the airstrip which was remediated by among other treatments, removing 636 tons of contaminated material. [7]

References

  1. ↑ "Gallagher Flint Station Archeological Site". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved December 30, 2007.
  2. ↑ Magoffin, Jim (1993). Triumph Over Turbulence. Jim Magoffin. pp. 101, 192, 218–219. ISBN   0963780603.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
  3. ↑ Magoffin 1993, p. 200.
  4. ↑ Cook, William J. (1970). "The Alaskan Oil Rush". Collier's Encyclopedia. Year book covering the year 1969. pp. 36–41. ISSN   0749-7776.
  5. 1 2 Oil firms fund cleanup work at remote airstrip, Anchorage Daily News, 1 August 1999
  6. ↑ For Sale: Public Airport Lease, Anchorage Daily News, 20 February 1982
  7. ↑ "SITE REPORT: BLM SAGWON AIRSTRIP DUMP". Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. Retrieved November 27, 2024.
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