On July 7, Governor Dunleavy joined U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche and Anchorage Mayor Suzanne LaFrance to announce that the federal government will pay $180 million dollars to settle a two-decade legal fight over a botched federal expansion project at the Don Young Port of Alaska, closing the books on one of the longest-running lawsuits in state history and delivering a significant infusion of funding toward rebuilding the Port.
The settlement resolves claims against the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) tied to the failed Port Intermodal Expansion Project, which left the Municipality of Anchorage to sue the federal government after the project’s design and construction proved defective.
The Don Young Port of Alaska, an enterprise of the Municipality of Anchorage, serves roughly 90% of Alaska’s population. Food, fuel, building materials, and other goods enter Alaska at the port before being distributed across the Railbelt and into rural Alaska…