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A California tech company recently tested its drone-based cloud-seeding technology in Alaska. (Photo courtesy of Rainmaker Technology Corp.) <\/p>\nA California tech company recently tested its drone-based cloud-seeding technology in Alaska. (Photo courtesy of Rainmaker Technology Corp.) <\/p>\n
A California tech company is facing an uproar from local residents and elected officials after launching a drone near the small Alaska fishing town of Homer with a goal fit for a sci-fi novel: to create rain and snow.<\/p>\n
The company, Rainmaker Technology Corp., says<\/a> it produced 19 million gallons of water in the sky near Homer in about three hours Aug. 23 by dispersing a small amount of silver iodide \u2014 a chemical that induces precipitation under the right atmospheric conditions \u2014 from a drone.<\/p>\n It was a training run for a company whose mission is to alleviate water scarcity in drought-stricken areas and ultimately to make the planet more habitable as it warms.<\/p>\n Rainmaker says it received the necessary regulatory approvals and notified state officials before launching its operation. But local representatives say that they learned about the test after the fact \u2014 and that many of their constituents, even those typically divided over politics, are united in concern.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact that these guys are literally dropping materials on constituents without any notification or checklist of what should occur prior to the flight is clearly a gap in responsible lawmaking,\u201d said Peter Micciche, the mayor of the Kenai Peninsula Borough.<\/p>\n The issue has generated one of the largest outpourings of local opposition \u201cin a very, very long time,\u201d said state Rep. Sarah Vance, a Republican who represents Homer and its surroundings.<\/p>\n Vance sent a letter<\/a> last week to Rainmaker asking it to \u201ccease and desist\u201d its operations in her district. She also asked that the company hold a public open house.<\/p>\n Rainmaker mainly operates in the Lower 48, where it\u2019s trying to revive<\/a> Utah\u2019s Great Salt Lake, save the Colorado River and help snow-starved ski resorts<\/a> stay in business. Its work is known as cloud seeding, one of several technologies that startups are promoting as scientists and investors look for ways to blunt the impacts of global climate change.<\/p>\n The company came to Alaska just to test its process, which works only when clouds are cold enough for ice to form around the silver iodide particles, according to the company\u2019s chief executive, Augustus Doricko.<\/p>\n But cloud seeding also has potential uses \u2014 enhancing hydropower and protecting glaciers \u2014 that are \u201cimmediately relevant to Alaska,\u201d said Doricko, 26.<\/p>\n The company launched a drone from two sites near the head of Kachemak Bay, some 20 miles northeast of Homer.<\/p>\n The drone was about the size of a lawn mower, Doricko said. It held several small flares. Once it reached a certain elevation \u2014 thousands of feet in the air, in the middle of a supercool cloud<\/a> \u2014 the flares combusted and released silver iodide dust into the air, Doricko said.<\/p>\n In total, the company dispersed some 375 grams of silver iodide \u2014 a little less than a pound \u2014 over a wide area, according to a technical corporate report<\/a>. Doricko asserted that the chemical is totally safe at those levels; the resulting increase in silver concentrations on the ground is orders of magnitude less than the 100 parts per billion threshold<\/a> set by the Environmental Protection Agency for drinking water, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIn a certain sense, I am running a conservation company, or at least a company that\u2019s trying to make our ecosystems and our farms healthier, and more green,\u201d Doricko said. \u201cSo, it would be pretty ridiculous if I was using something that acted to the contrary of that.\u201d<\/p>\n Micciche, the mayor, said he\u2019s not especially concerned about silver iodide.<\/p>\n \u201cBut the fact that someone can drop something from a drone on my constituency without any prior notification or public comment, in my view, is inadequate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe contrail people<\/a> are saying, \u2018See, I told you so.\u2019 But it\u2019s the other 85% of the population that\u2019s like, \u2018Wait a minute, I can\u2019t drop things on my neighbors without public notice \u2026 or some sort of permit,\u2019\u201d Micciche added.<\/p>\n Micciche said he plans to introduce a resolution and ordinance at the next borough assembly meeting, with the intent to increase local oversight over cloud-seeding.<\/p>\n The issue has struck a chord not only in conservative circles and among politicians like Micciche and Vance, but also among local environmental advocates.<\/p>\n Cooper Freeman, a Homer resident and Alaska director of the Center for Biological Diversity, a national conservation group, said he has concerns, too.<\/p>\n \u201cAt best, it\u2019s absolutely bizarre,\u201d Freeman said in a text message. \u201cAt worst, it\u2019s a dangerous and potentially toxic false solution to addressing the severe climate disruption facing the state.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Vance, the state legislator, said she is pushing Rainmaker for an open house so they can explain their technology and hear directly from the public.<\/p>\n She said her constituents \u201cdon\u2019t want weather modification over our skies or in our skies.\u201d<\/p>\n Doricko said he understands the concerns.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m really empathetic to people that have questions about what we\u2019re doing, right? You hear about a tech company with a mulleted CEO<\/a> that\u2019s in his 20s, that\u2019s modifying the weather. That should absolutely raise eyebrows,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n But Doricko added that companies have tested cloud-seeding technology for decades<\/a>\u2014 though experts also have long questioned its effectiveness<\/a>. And he said that even though 19 million gallons of water sounds like a lot \u2014 and could provide drinking water to more than 150 households for a year \u2014 it\u2019s not enough to create a \u201ctorrential downpour\u201d or blizzard. That amount equates to about 0.01 of an inch of rain across 100 square miles.<\/p>\n Rainmaker is not planning another test in Alaska next summer, Doricko added. But the company is working to schedule a town hall.<\/p>\n \u201cWe absolutely have to talk to the folks before we operate, and we did, and we got those approvals,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He said<\/a> Rainmaker notified the Alaska Department of Natural Resources and reached out to the region\u2019s Alaska Native corporation and a local tribal government. The company also received approvals from the Federal Aviation Administration<\/a>.<\/p>\n A document that Rainmaker says it presented to state land managers \u2014 and that the company shared with the Anchorage Press \u2014 describes plans to \u201cconduct atmospheric data collection, cloud seeding feasibility assessments, and precipitation enhancement research via Aerosol Dispersal System (ADS) and silver iodide (AgI) flare dispersal at altitude.\u201d<\/p>\n After meeting with company representatives, the Alaska Department of Natural Resources issued a letter<\/a> to Rainmaker noting that the use of a drone for research is a generally allowed use on state land, meaning it does not require a permit.<\/p>\n The agency does not have jurisdiction over cloud-seeding, and did not issue any specific authorization for it, according to spokesperson Lorraine Henry.<\/p>\n Another state regulatory agency, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, \u201cis aware of Rainmaker\u2019s reported activity and is reviewing the available information in coordination with other state agencies,\u201d Sam Dapcevich, an agency spokesperson, said in an email.<\/p>\n \u201cA more thorough response with our evaluation will follow in the coming days,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Doricko, for his part, said he\u2019s \u201cabsolutely down\u201d to do more outreach in the future.<\/p>\n He just insisted on one thing for the town hall: metal detectors at the door.<\/p>\n This story was originally published by the Anchorage Press<\/a>, the revived independent alt-weekly. Find a place to pick up a copy of their first print issue at anchoragepress.com\/find-the-press<\/a> and learn more about subscribing or donating at their website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A California tech company recently tested its drone-based cloud-seeding technology in Alaska. 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Augustus Doricko, 26, is chief executive of Rainmaker Technology Corp. (Photo courtesy of Rainmaker) <\/p>\n