White Alice Communications System - The End of White Alice

The End of White Alice

After 1970, WACS was transferred from Air Force control to RCA Alascom and served civilian use until the late 1970s, when it was superseded by satellite communication earth stations. The last tropospheric link, from Boswell Bay to Neklasson Lake, was used until January 1985 to connect Middleton Island to the network. Vandalism, unsafe conditions and environmental concerns caused the Department of Defense (DOD) to remove physical structures at the sites between the late 1980s to the early 2000s. Several former White Alice sites and collocated facilities became contaminated sites managed by Alaska's Department of Environmental Conservation - Contaminated Sites Program and DOD Cleanup programs sites because of PCB usage and fuel leakage from storage tanks. It is likely the cost to clean up some of the sites far exceeded the cost of construction.