In all likelihood, Lewisport resident John Miller holds the world's record
for the longest work commute. He works for a company based in Prudhoe Bay,
Alaska- a one-way work commute of over 4,000 miles!

So, how did a man from Lewisport end up working in Alaska? It started
shortly after he graduated from Hancock County High in 1973. Fresh out of
high school, he went to work for Southwire Rod and Cable Mill in Hawesville.

About a year later, in 1974, he received a call from his uncle Bill Leslie.

"My uncle in Alaska called me and wanted to know if I wanted to make $1,000
per week building a pipeline," Miller said. "I took off up there."

When he first arrived in Alaska, Miller worked for Caterpillar Tractor
Company in Fairbanks as a parts man. He worked there from 1974 until shortly
after the Alaskan Pipeline opened in 1979. He then started working as a
welder's helper out of union local 375 in Fairbanks. Later, he worked as a
journeyman, holding that position for 10 years. In 1988 he received a
promotion to supervisor.

Miller lived full time in Alaska from 1974 until 1995, at which time he
moved back to Lewisport. Romance brought him back home to Kentucky. At his
20 year high school reunion he met an old classmate, the former Debbie
Voyles. They immediately "clicked," and eventually married.

Both possess children by previous marriages. His two children are Cassie and
Kayla Miller, her three children are Scarlet, Jonathan and Jared Roberts.

The Millers possess a total of nine grandchildren, two deceased, and one on
the way.

How does he manage to work in Alaska and live in Kentucky?

"I work three weeks on and three weeks off," Miller said.

On his weeks off, he flies back to his home at 1425 Lincoln Road in
Lewisport. He racks up the frequent flyer miles going to and from work.

Miller estimates he's flown over one million miles traveling to and from
Alaska‹all at his expense.

While in Alaska, Miller and other workers live in Main Construction Camps.

The MCC, as Miller termed it, possesses dormitory style barracks in which
the workers stay for the duration of their work shift. Given the type of
housing, Miller's wife Debbie does not travel with him.

So, what does Miller actually do in Alaska?

"I am a project superintendent for a construction outfit called Norcon,"
Miller said. "We're contracted out to BP (British Petroleum), and we do all
the new construction on the North Slope."

Norcon constructs the pipelines that transports the crude oil from the well
to what is called a manifold building. The distance varies. Some pipelines
reach only a few dozen feet, while others may be over 1,000 feet long.

The manifold facility separates the crude oil from the water and natural gas
in it, then sends the oil to Pump Station One. From there it enters the
Alaskan Pipeline and flows to Prudhoe Bay.

Miller now works inside an office most of the day filling out paperwork,
preparing schedules, ordering materials and determining the number of
workers it takes to perform a needed job. Though he now holds an office job,
he does drive to job sites every day to check on their progress. His company
works in a radius of about 70 miles around Prudhoe Bay, and Miller estimates
he travels about four hours per day going to and from the drill sites.
At that latitude, and the ground being permafrost, few blacktop roads exist.

"The roads are gravel," Miller said. "The whole road from Pump Station One
to Fairbanks is about 280 miles, and it is all gravel."

Fortunately, with the ground being permafrost, workers just need to spread
out gravel, compact it and it forms a road surface about as smooth as
blacktop.

Prudhoe Bay sits in northern Alaska on the Beaufort Sea, well inside the
arctic circle. Most of the year, it stays really cold. Even in May, daytime
temperatures average well below freezing. Such temperatures make it an
extremely harsh work environment.

"The winters are long, harsh and dark," Miller said. "It'll drop down to
40-45 below ambient and we'll have winds of 50-60 miles per hour, and that
will make the wind chill around 115 to 120 degrees below zero."

Miller said even in such conditions, workers go out and work 12-hour shifts.

He said BP provides workers with plenty of warm gear to wear when out on a
job.

"It's good to 50 below zero," he said.

Miller said he remembers working many welding jobs in very harsh conditions.

Welding together "big iron" ranked as his most hair-raising experiences on
the job.

"Big iron" is what the workers call the towers that hold the pipelines.

These structures stand around 90 feet tall, with sections weighing upwards
of 70 tons. Workers needed to weld these sections together, and often they
iced over, making footing treacherous. In addition, strong winds buffeted
the workers as they tried to weld.

It required much safety gear to work in those conditions. The equipment
included a safety line attached to a large crane boom.

Though incredibly dangerous work, Miller recalls only one fatality in all
the years he worked in Alaska. One day several men went to install a
mechanical plug in a section of the pipeline.

"The vent line froze and the guy was welding," Miller said. "The pressure
built up and the plug blew off and killed him."

Working in Alaska presents dangers most people never even dare to imagine.

Miller said wild animals, including bears, moose and wolves often come onto
the facility where he works. Since a danger exists of wild animals coming up
to workers out at the work site, the company instituted a unique position.

"In the summer we actually have a man on grizzly watch," Miller said.

"That's all he does. He is out on the edge of the gravel work pad and that's
his job, just to watch for bear."

When the watcher spots one, he calls security and a detail comes and runs
the bear away from the workers. With so many different types of dangerous
animals around, people do not just walk outside a building like people do
here.

In Alaska, many facilities possess a "bear cage" around the doors. This
device allows a person to walk outside and peer around to ensure bears do
not lurk around the doors. Usually, Miller said he just walked on out
without worrying too much about wild animals, which leads to an interesting
experience for him and another worker.

"We came out of a sea water treatment plant, and there was a polar bear
standing up at the gate to the bear cage," Miller said. "To see one standing
there one morning just kind of shocks you."

Miller said each year Caribou migrate through that region by the thousands,
often getting on Norcon facilities. Miller said they do not bother anything
or cause any real trouble to workers.

"You can just about walk up and pet them," Miller said.

Though Alaska possesses a long harsh winter, it more than makes up for it
with its beautiful summers, though they last only a few weeks. Miller said
temperatures in the summer get as high as 70 degrees Fahrenheit, and the
forests come alive with thousands of wildflowers in a large variety of
colors.

"The colors and the number of wildflowers is just mind boggling," Miller
said. "It's a short season, but it's absolutely beautiful."

Looking back on his life in Alaska, Miller said he really enjoyed it, and
does not plan to retire anytime soon.

"I think it's been a blessing to get to do what you enjoy doing for 30
years," Miller said. "We got to work a long time in our lives. Doing
something you enjoy is a lot better than doing something you don't enjoy."