FAIRBANKS, Alaska — A $30 million renovation project at the airport in Kotzebue has been put on hold after human remains were found.
The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports part of a hip bone was found Sunday as a trench was being dug.
Alaska Department of Transportation Project Engineer Mark Figley says on-site archaeologists said the bone was “pretty old.”
He says the find wasn’t unexpected, and officials had discussed the possibility of this happening before work started. The shoreline has been inhabited for thousands of years.
No other remains were found, and the archaeologists determined the remains had been disturbed before. The bones will be reburied.
Figley expects work to resume soon on the project to lengthen the runway, reroute a road and move a lagoon..
Work should be done before December.
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