On the North Slope of Alaska, located on the coastal plain, 40 miles west of Prudhoe Bay, 400 miles north of Fairbanks, lies the award winning Kuparuk Industrial Center-Service Area 10. Designed and engineered in Seattle, this was a self-contained, full-service 245 bed resident oilfield support base. It incorporated a 3.2MW, dual fuel power generation facility, a state-of-the-art water and tertiary wastewater treatment plant, bulk fuel storage and telecommunications. I flew in to Deadhorse for an on-site field engineering assignment during construction.
One of my goals was to dip my toe in the Arctic Ocean so I could someday tell my children. While standing on the shoreline, 3 native people, magnificently dressed in fur skinned apparel were in a small boat powered by an outboard motor. They saw us and headed in our direction.
Seeing a rifle laying on top of their fur blanket caused some concern, until the father smiled and waved. Once on shore, he asked if I’d like a picture taken with his family. They were from the nearby village of Nuiqsut and out for an after-dinner jaunt. I have since lost the picture but have always remembered their warmth and kindness to a stranger. And yes, I did dip in my toe.