Lori Townsend, Alaska Public Media

A contaminated site in Nikiski has residents worried for the safety of their groundwater. The Arness Septage site was a dumping ground in the 1980s for more than 4,000 gallons of oil contaminated waste, sludge and other pollutants. In the decades since, Department of Environmental Conservation staff say the site has not been properly monitored. Peninsula Clarion reporter Brian Smith just published a six-part series on the site. He says in the late 1980s the area was cleaned up. But he told APRN’s Lori Townsend there are still big questions about how area ground water was affected.

When the 113th congress gets to work, Democratic Senator Mark Begich will have some new committee assignments. Begich has secured a seat on the Indian Affairs committee. He will no longer have a spot on the budget committee. Begich also now has a seat on the powerful appropriations committee, he gave up his seat on the Armed Services Committee for the appropriations position.

The annual survey count for the endangered Cook Inlet Belugas has been released and as in years past, it has not changed much. NOAA scientists counted 312 whales last summer and fall, up 28 animals from the 2011 count, but the uptick is not considered significant and scientists say the belugas are still in a slow decline. Kim Sheldon is a biologist with the National Marine Mammal Lab in Seattle. She says although the count continues to show a downward trend over the last decade, they were excited to see belugas in the lower part of Cook Inlet last summer.

The Kulluk grounded on the southeast shoreline of Sitkalidak Island (between the north edge of Ocean Bay and Partition Cove) at approximately 9 p.m. on December 31, 2012. The shoreline of Partition Cove is primarily comprised of mixed sand and gravel beaches. Severe weather conditions continue to impact operations.

Lance Mackey took first place on Sunday in the inaugural running of the Top of the World 350 race from Eagle to Tok. Following Lance in for second place was Gerry Willomitzer. Jake Berkowitz took third.

The Alaska Native Arts Foundation is celebrating its 10-year anniversary. The foundation’s gallery is in downtown Anchorage but Trina Landlord, the executive director, says they now have a registry of more than 1,100 Alaska Native artists from across Alaska. She says beyond showcasing art and helping build economies in rural Alaska, the foundation offers training in both art and in business training for artists.

A report commissioned by the State Department of Environmental Conservation shows water quality on the lower Kenai River violates state standards. The report has not been released by DEC.

BP has agreed to plead guilty and pay a $4.5 billion fine to settle federal criminal charges surrounding the Deepwater Horizon blowout and spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Eleven people were killed in the 2010 explosion. The Anchorage Daily News reports that the company could be on the hook for billions more as the federal government plans to pursue a civil claim for violations of the Clean Water Act. More than 4 million barrels of oil were released into the Gulf of Mexico from the blowout.

In 11 years as executive director at the Food Bank of Alaska, Susannah Morgan has helped feed more than 800,000 people. Despite her hard work, the hunger problem in Alaska has only gotten worse. When she started about 9 percent of the state’s residents needed the food bank’s services. Now that figure has increased to 14 percent.

The new book “Almost Home” profiles the lives of six young people who experienced homelessness and found help and a path toward a brighter future through Covenant House, a national network of shelters for homeless teens.

The need for safe housing for women and children in Alaska who have suffered from domestic violence has sparked a first in the nation program to help meet the demand. The Empowering Choice Housing program was created with 1.3 million in Governor Sean Parnell's 2013 budget plus another million from the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation's federal moving to work program.