Murkowski Appreciates DHS Waiver Decision for Nome
Senator: “Now Comes the Heavy Lifting”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – After hearing that the Russian Tanker Renda had received a waiver from the Department of Homeland Security for a statutory Jones Act requirement to transport fuel from Dutch Harbor to Nome, Senator Lisa Murkowski today had the following reaction:
“Today is an important step in providing certainty to the Seward Peninsula region, in terms of heat and affordable heating prices through the winter, but it is only a step. We literally have hundreds of miles to go before resolution. Some paperwork has gone through the necessary avenues, but now comes the heavy lifting, for the men and women of the United States Coast Guard, the company transporting the fuel, and the Nome residents who will all have to work together for a successful delivery.”
Last Friday, Senator Murkowski and Congressman Young wrote a letter to U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Alan D. Bersin, asking for his consideration of a Jones Act waiver to allow the Renda to transport 400,000 gallons of fuel between two Alaskan stops -- Dutch Harbor and Nome -- after initial plans to load the fuel in Japan were scuttled due to weather issues.
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