Alaska pipeline contract worker mauled by black bear

JUNEAU, Alaska — A contract worker for the trans-Alaska pipeline system was mauled by a bear and seriously injured while running on a public road near a pump station, a spokesperson for the pipeline operator said Tuesday.

The incident occurred Friday evening on a route used for recreation by employees based at the remote Interior Pump Station 5, which is on the south side of the Brooks Range, said Katie Pesznecker with Alyeska Pipeline Service Co.

She said security personnel went to look for the worker, identified by Alaska State Troopers as Michael Becwar, 53, of Wasilla, when they noticed he had been gone for about 80 minutes.

They found Becwar on the side of the road with serious injuries, she said. He was taken by medical transport to a hospital in Fairbanks, which is about 160 air miles south, she said. Pesznecker could not give details on his injuries but said he’s expected to recover.

Troopers, in an online dispatch, said a necropsy performed by the Department of Fish and Game confirmed an adult male black bear killed by pipeline security personnel Sunday was “very likely” the animal involved in the mauling.

Glenn Stout, a Fish and Game wildlife biologist, said the incident was determined to be predatory based on information from Becwar. Becwar reported seeing the bear on the first leg of his run “a couple hundred yards” away and again on his return, when the bear approached him, Stout said.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2MnQvJx