European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 28, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse                                A ejectors follow flow of Oil through pipeline. View from inside a pipe shows the Oil storage tanks at the end of the pipeline in Valdez. The Impact on Alaska re non part we i or i Alaska has paid the nation Back for Seward s Folly with interest but there s no doubt the state has surrendered some of its last Frontier Aura in the  completion of the trans Alaska pipeline. Alaska will be providing the nation with 1.2 million barrels of Oil daily. The Oil is Only a fraction of the . S Oil consumption. But the Prudhoe Bay re Krives Are Only a fraction of the potential of Energy development in Alaska. And the state has commercial quantities of 31 of he 32 minerals listed As strategic and essential by the defense department. Most of these minerals Are still unexploited. The state has shown that it was Worth the $7.2 million that William Seward paid Russia for it in 1867. More importantly Alaska has demonstrated that it can succeed As a state something opponents of statehood had claimed was impossible. Oil has made the state the richest in the United states based of Popula Tion. Per capita income is the highest in the nation. It has grown from $5.1 la am to More than $10,000 id 197j. State Senate president John radar of Anchorage describes Alaska As a big Oil company and its state officials As simply a Board of  gov. Jay Hammond says that Many out siders that s what alaskans Call folks from the lower 48 believe alaskans Are Rich and greedy. But he adds that demands for increased services partly As a result of the population increase that came with the Oil Boom have Cost the state immensely. Still there s no doubt the state has Al ready benefited economically from Energy  Carr Secretary treasurer of Alaska teamsters local 968. Said the pipe i bile s economic Impact goes beyond con i str cuon and Oil Industry jobs. The state will have Access to Low Cost fuel for heat a Energy two Basic ingredients Essen Ual to the state s  Ibe biggest economic Impact of 28,1977 curved in Valdez the pipeline port Fairbanks the Center of the pipeline s brawn and Anchorage the Center of the project s brains. But alaskans from the smallest Eskimo Village to fishing ports in the Southeastern part of the state worked on the pipeline. A system of hiring that favored alaskans was set up and state labor officials believe any qualified alaskan who wanted to work on the pipeline got the  state s unemployment rate was High when the project began and it s almost 16 per cent now that the project is virtually Over. But labor officials note that half of those on unemployment Rolls Are residents of the lower 48 who met residency require ments for unemployment pay while work ing on the  Alaska s new found wealth came  Are experiencing the highest volume of Home sales in the Low to Moder ate income class than we be Ever had before says Phil Hubbard. State com Merce commissioner. Nobody anticipated that everybody excepted a drop  most state and Federal officials agree that environmental Impact from the pipeline has been kept to a minimum. By Ibe social Impact has been tremendous As would be expected when the population increases 49 per cent in seven years. In 1970 the population was 302,000 in 1977 it is estimated at 440,009. A crime wave was predicted when pipe line construction began and crime did in crease. We knew inure would be a certain amount of criminal activity but we had no Way to Tell. No one else had Ever built this land of thing. We did t know How to gauge it about 95 per cent of the people who worked on the line were solid  said col. Pat Wellington of the state troop ers. And he adds violent crimes did not in is rotaries Anc Petty thefts soared but state officials dispute reports that Orga used crts mov into the state or that it by Robert Weller associated press was directly involved in providing drugs for pipeline Camps. Atty. Gen. Avrum Gross said it was t organized crime. It was Little hoods becoming big  prices for Homes tripled and quadrupled in Anchorage. Fairbanks and Valdez became notorious for rent gouging and a state Board was set up to review rent increases but most of the damage had been done. In Valdez. Some workers who brought their families ended up living in tents. In Fairbanks a moderate sized two Story Home was made into a boarding House. I housed 47 persons seven of them bunk ing in its Small Kitchen with each paying $10 a Day. Inflation Hurt everyone. Prices in Alaska always have been High. But those on fixed incomes were hit hard when the pipeline pumped prices up even higher. Municipal facilities were severely taxed. Telephone systems broke Down. In Fairbanks it was difficult to get a dial Lone at times and the City stopped accepting applications for new telephones for several months. Schools in Fairbanks and Valdez went on double shifts. But newer larger schools sewer sys tems Telephone systems and recreational facilities have been built paid for mostly by taxes on Oil. Oil Money also has funded live television via satellite through a state operate d . Wilh a population of 6.000. Has a tax base of More than 11.25 billion because of the location of the pipeline terminal there. Oil companies pay 90 per cent of the City s taxes. Many alaskans made thousands of dollars working on the pipeline and used it to finance Homes buy boats or Start businesses. Hubbrd says Many of these things would never have been available to them without the pipe  Morris Thompson former commissioner of the . Bureau of Indian affairs says the pipeline largely was a Boon to natives. He said natives proved they were the Best workers on the  minority hiring regulations resulted in the hiring of Many natives and  discovery of Oil on the North slope helped expedite. Settlement of Alaska native land claims. Some of the $1 billion Given the natives was used to set up construction corporations whose first con tracts were on the , an Athabasca Indian says one of our concerns was that it would bring Alaska natives out of their Rural communities and they would adopt a life style through High wages and then return to the Village. But that did t happen As much As we  labor has benefited tremendously from the pipeline. Teamsters membership grew from around 9.000 to 23.000 fuelled by dues from pipeline workers. Some critics of the Union believe it is too Strong its membership includes More than 20 different Job classifications and at least 80 separate bargaining unions. They represent the Anchorage police. Anchorage City employees secretaries employees of major shippers and one major airline. The Anchorage daily Vena won the 1976 pulitzer prize for Public service for describing the Union s political Power and holdings. The state s Long Lime residents Are split Over whether the development was Worth the changes it has brought. Some who came to Alaska in the 1920s and 30s to develop the last Frontier support the growth. Others who came Talaska to escape the Urban pressure out Side believe it has diminished the Quality of life . Hammond concedes that most alaskans have fared Well  Hammond a former Bush Pilot in Naknek adds frankly the things i came to Alaska to enjoy have eroded substantially. There s no question about it. Certainly when i first came up Here in the 40s. You did t have the people pressures you have now. I m saying it s premature to say whether Oil development and All these things have been  the stars and stripes Poge is