Cordova’s most densely populated bear den isn’t along a salmon stream or in a particularly berry-rich area, such as is the case in many other Alaska communities. The place where the highest number of bears congregate is actually at the city’s landfill – and officials say it poses a great risk.
“It just started with a few bears … and it’s just increased and increased,” said Cordova Refuse Department Supervisor Aaron Muma.
Muma, who has been the supervisor for 11 years and worked for the Refuse Department for 23, said a lot has changed particularly in the last eight years. He said it started with a few sows finding the food scrap area at the landfill and then returning with their cubs the next year. Since then, the bear population at the landfill has gradually increased over the years.
“It is a very dangerous situation,” Muma said.
The Cordova Mile 17 Landfill – located east of town on the Copper River Highway about five miles past the airport – is the city’s primary waste facility. Residential garbage is collected weekly, however residents outside the pick-up areas bring their personal refuse to the transfer station on Whitshed Road.
Once Refuse Department crews transport waste to the landfill – which Muma says happens multiple times per day this time of year – it is compacted and covered.
But, he said, sometimes crews can come back the next day and not even tell anything has been covered.
“Bears are digging machines,” Muma said.
The main gate to the landfill has a lock, but it only keeps vehicles out. The 62-acre property also isn’t fenced.
During the July 16 City Council meeting, Council Member Wendy Ranney said she flew over the landfill recently and counted about 25 bears scouring through the trash.
“I mean that’s just crazy,” she said during the meeting.
City officials say some people even head out to the landfill specifically to view the bears. Ranney noted during her flyover she saw a handful of vehicles parked there.
Cordova Public Works Director Kevin Johnson, during the meeting, emphasized that entering the landfill outside of operating hours is grounds for prosecution.
“I don’t care if you’re a teenager or if you’re an adult, it doesn’t matter who you are,” Johnson said. “If you enter that landfill, we will call the police, [and] you will be charged. It is not somewhere that the public needs to be, or should be, or is allowed to be.”
City refuse employees, however, of course don’t have the luxury of avoiding the area.
“I’m concerned about the safety issues, because bear spray when the bears are pulling the bags out of the truck are not going to do much,” Ranney said during last week’s council meeting.
Because of the safety risks, Muma said crews, which are only permitted to carry bear spray, must be in a truck or other large piece of machinery while working at the landfill.
“We used to walk around there all the time, that’s just not an option anymore,” Muma said.
During the council meeting Ranney even suggested the possibility of city refuse workers being allowed to carry weapons besides bear spray – but Johnson said the city would have to do more research on the cost, as well check to see if it would be possible with the municipality’s insurance provider, since it’s a large liability.
Johnson did, however, say the city will begin to bear-proof part of the landfill next year. The state Department of Environmental Conservation is requiring the city to fence the area, which will hopefully start to deter bears over time.
The city is now researching how it’ll fund the required fencing. The state gave Cordova a semi-flexible June 2026 deadline to start construction.
But in the meantime, city officials are reminding the public not to go looking for bears at the landfill, and to stay bear aware this summer.
“If people don’t have business at the landfill, they need to stay out of there,” Muma said.
