Tribal Science Projects

The Projects listed below are scientific investigations that EPA and its tribal partners are implementing across the country. The projects are displayed geographically on the map and listed by EPA Region below. While not necessarily exhaustive, the list of projects below is designed to give a sense of the kinds of projects that EPA and its tribal partners are conducting. The projects were identified by the tribal and EPA Regional representatives on the National-EPA Tribal Science Council (TSC). For additional project information, please contact the individuals or organizations listed in the "Contact" section of each write-up.

REGION 1: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont

Project 1-1: Air Monitoring in Northern Maine

Lead: The Aroostook Band of Micmacs

Issue: Northern Maine has some of the highest asthma rates in the country with little to no monitoring to evaluate the cause.

Approach: The Aroostook Band of Micmacs, the northernmost tribe in Maine, was awarded approximately $300,000 to conduct real-time air monitoring. This initiative was supported by 13 various health organizations. They currently have their weather station up and running and real-time data, which can be located on the Micmac Environmental Health Department Website . However, due to the remote locations of various monitors, additional time, effort and money are required to provide power and maintain the sites.

Impact: With this air monitoring information, the tribe would develop a bank of data that would help determine the level of asthma health risks to residents, specifically tribal members in Northern Maine. Data is being generated through the acquisition of air monitors; however, the tribes currently do not have the resources to evaluate this data to determine the level of health risks to tribal members.

Location: Project is located on Presque Isle (46° 4' 47.07" N, 68° 01'59.36" W) in Northern Maine.

Contact:

References: Real-time data from the Aroostook Band of Micmacs' weather station can be found on the Micmac Environmental Health Department Website .

Project 1-2: Moose and Deer Liver Testing

Lead: Passamaquoddy Indian Township Tribal Nation

Issue: The State of Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife issued an advisory that hunters should not consume moose liver and should limit their ingestion of deer liver due to elevated levels of cadmium. This organ is a very popular food source for the New England tribes. As Governor John Stevens of the Passamaquoddy Indian Township Tribe states: "to eat the liver of an animal is a spiritual act, the energy from the liver is meant to help your own liver stay healthy."

Approach: In 1998, the Passamaquoddy Indian Township Tribal Nation received approximately $49,000 of General Assistance Program money to conduct a study to evaluate the levels of heavy metal cadmium in the livers of moose and deer. The tribe analyzed the livers for heavy metals and then the Region 6 ORD laboratory agreed to assist in this Nationally significant study for the tribes by analyzing the liver for PBT's.

Impact: This data will help the Maine tribal nations begin assessing the health risks of continuing life long tradition for its tribal members.

Location: Passamaquoddy Tribe of Indians Indian Township Reservation

Contact: Valerie Bataille, US EPA Region 1 (617) 918-1674

REGION 2: New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands

Project 2-1: Culturally Based Environmental Protection Process

Lead: Haudenosaunee Environmental Task Force

Partner: USEPA Region 2

Issue: The Haudenosaunee Environmental Task Force (HETF) is proceeding with a project to develop an environmental protection process based on our indigenous world view and relationship with the natural world.

Approach: The HETF is proposing to use the traditional teachings of the Haudenosaunee as a guide in creating this process. We recognize the need for our environmental protection process to incorporate our traditional knowledge and laws to maintain our sovereignty and protect our culture.

To date, the HETF has hired an environmental law researcher and a cultural researcher to work on this project. Last year, five workshops, funded by the nations of the Haudenosaunee, discussed the traditional teachings of the Haudenosaunee. These teachings included the Creation Story, Great Law of Peace, Two Row Wampum and Silver Covenant Chain, Thanksgiving Address, and Traditional Knowledge. The HETF is now in the process of analyzing the traditional teachings to better understand the principles that they are based on. These principles will form the foundation for the modern day culturally based environmental protection process.

Impact: It is expected that the project will result in development of culturally based water quality standards and environmental assessment processes for the Haudenosaunee. It has the potential to serve as a model for cultural based approaches for tribal environmental protection.

The HETF is undertaking this project in cooperation with Region 2 of the USEPA. It is understood, that if the nations of the Haudenosaunee ever need the assistance of the USEPA, then we must demonstrate that our process meets or exceeds the requirements of federal environmental laws.

Location: Mohawk Nation, Onondaga Nation, Tuscarora Nation, Cayuga Nation, and Tonawanda Seneca Nation.

Contact: James Ransom, Director Haudenosaunee Environmental Task Force, (518) 358-3381, jransom@westelcom.com

Project 2-2: Whole Health Initiative

Lead: Haudenosaunee Nations

Issue: The Haudenosaunee have launched an initiative to improve the mental, spiritual, physical, and social well being of our people. A key part of this initiative is to change our eating and medical habits to restore the natural healthiness of our bodies, which in turn feeds our Good Mind and healthy inner spirit.

Approach: Each community has its own medicines and traditions about them and we need to seek the wisdom of the elders on how to use these sacred gifts. Modern medicine provides some important practices; however, we need to keep the traditional practices alive as well. Medicine and healing is a spiritual process.

Food is another form of medicine. Food is a sacred gift of the Creation meant to nourish our mind and bodies. However, we have been caught in a deadly trap of fast foods and other unhealthy foods. We need to return to our original diet if we are to strengthen our mind, bodies, and spirit. The energy you put into food is shared with those who consume it. A Haudenosaunee traditional food guide is being prepared for each of our nations. It will contain information on our traditional foods and recipes on how to prepare them.

Impact: We need to return to our original diet if we are to strengthen our mind, bodies, and spirit. We still know where to plant our crops, where to hunt and fish, and where to gather berries, nuts, and other fruits. This project is gathering that knowledge and sharing it amongst our people. Individuals in our communities are working together to continue planting our traditional Haudenosaunee heirloom seeds, including corn, beans, and squash.

Location: Mohawk Nation, Onondaga Nation, Tuscarora Nation, Cayuga Nation, and Tonawanda Seneca Nation.

Contact: LuAnn Jamieson, Tonawanda Seneca Nation, (716) 481-2546,luhawk@buffnet.net

Project 2-3: Tuscarora Elementary School Environment Program

Lead: Tuscarora Environment Program

Partner: Tuscarora Elementary School

Issue: For the past five years, the Tuscarora Environment Program has been working with the Tuscarora Elementary School to integrate environmental education activities into the school's curriculum.

Approach: A school wide composting program for kitchen scraps has served as a catalyst for introducing environmental education and culture topics to the pre-K through grade 6 elementary school.

Today, a 6th grade teacher has taken a lead role in running the composting project and students volunteer on a weekly basis to dump the collection bins into the compost bin. Tuscarora Environment Program staff work with the school's culture program to provide different environmental lessons for the students.

Impact: The program has evolved to include a school garden that is planted in the spring, maintained with summer school students and harvested in the fall. Students mix their finished compost into the school garden and learn to not only enrich the soil, but to also recycle their food scraps and minimize pollution by natural processes. Last year, the Tuscarora Environment Program worked with the school to add a nature trail on the school grounds.

Location: Tuscarora Nation.

Contact: Lynette Printup, Tuscarora Environment Program, (716) 609-3810, lprintup@hotmail.com.

Project 2-4: Black Ash Restoration Project

Lead: Akwesasne Task Force on the Environment

Partners: Mohawk Council of Akwesasne's Environment Department, Nations of the Haudenosaunee Issue:For the past twelve years, the Akwesasne Task Force on the Environment, in cooperation with the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne'e Environment Department, has been working on restoring black ash trees among the Haudenosaunee. Elders and basket makers in the community were concerned that black ash was being depleted. The black ash tree is an important tree to the Haudenosaunee for many reasons.

Approach: For the past twelve years, the Akwesasne Task Force on the Environment, in cooperation with the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne'e Environment Department, has been working on restoring black ash trees among the Haudenosaunee.

The work of the individuals involved in this project has included examining black ash range and habitat, seed collection and care, genetic considerations, seed dormancy, germination and planting, seedling care, transplanting, and disease and pest control.

Impact: Today, over 10,000 black ash trees have been successfully planted in Akwesasne and other Haudenosaunee communities as the restoration project has been an overwhelming success.

Location: Mohawk Nation, Onondaga Nation, Tonawanda Seneca Nation, and Tuscarora Nation.

Project 2-5: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Superfund Program

Lead: First Environment Research Project, Akwesasne.

Partners: University at Albany, Syracuse University, Environment Research Center at the State University of New York College at Oswego, and National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

Issue: The First Environment Research Projects, in cooperation with the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Superfund Program has been focusing on the problems related to PCB exposure to residents of the Akwesasne Mohawk Nation.

Approach: Over the past decade, the following studies have been undertaken:

PCBs and the well being of Mohawk children and youth: growth, development and cognitive behavior functioning.
Bio-psycho-social well being among Akwesasne residents
Neurochemical, neuro-behavioral and endocrine effects of developmental exposure of rats to individual PCB congeners.
Studies on the mechanisms responsible for the cognitive impairments by exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls.
Studies of the alterations in estrogen metabolism caused by exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls.
PCB estrogenicity in human breast cells.
A combined bioassay-chemical fractionation scheme for the determination of toxic chemicals in sediments from the St. Lawrence River.
Bioremediation of PCB contaminated sediments in the St. Lawrence River.
Photocatalytic Remediation of PCB-contaminated water and sediment: novel catalysts and potential solar applications.
Supercritical fluid technology for remediation of PCB/PAH contaminated soils and sediments.

Impact: The Massena area of New York, immediately to the west of Akwesasne, is home to three major industrial firms. Alcoa, Reynolds (it was purchased by Alcoa last year), and General Motors operate aluminum casting manufacturing facilities on the St. Lawrence River and its major tributaries. All three plants used PCBs in hydraulic fluids. The fluids were discharged to the river as part of routine waste management practices for several decades. The PCBs accumulated in the wildlife of the area including fish, ducks, turtles and other sources of traditional Mohawk foods. When state scientists analyzed wildlife collected from the area they found very high PCB concentrations. This project will help characterize PCB exposure to residents of the Akwesasne Mohawk Nation.

Location: This project is located east of Massena, New York.

Contact: Alice Tarbell, First Environment Research Project, (518) 358-9223, ferp@northnet.org

Project 2-6: First Environment Restoration Initiative

Lead: Akwesasne Task Force on the Environment, Inc.

Partner: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

Issue: The Mohawk people of Akwesasne are facing a variety of environmental justice and health issues arising from 3 adjacent superfund sites. Research to date has found that traditional risk assessment and management models have not been effective in defining environmental risk, promoting effective remediation, decreasing exposure or restoring community health at Akwesasne.

Approach: The First Environment Restoration Initiative has focused on partnership building and environmental education in the Mohawk territory of Akwesasne. Between 1999 and 2003, a new initiative was funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Services to develop a community based environmental health model that holistically identifies the impacts that toxic substances have had on elders, their extended family, the natural world and Mohawk cultural practices. Community based, participatory action oriented research methodologies have included interviewing elders and knowledgeable community members and community outreach, training, and education programs that incorporate Mohawk cultural practices, attitudes and beliefs into a holistic definition of environmental health.

Impact: The research has been shared with community members and with other Haudenosaunee communities through video, audio, booklets, newspaper inserts, weekly newspaper articles, meeting and conference participation, action based restoration work, hands-on educational efforts with Mohawk youth and a weekly six-hour radio show that is done in the Mohawk language.

Location: The community is located along the St. Lawrence River between northern New York and western Quebec/eastern Ontario.

Contact: Mary Arquette, Akwesasne Task Force on the Environment, (518) 358-9607, mfadden@westelcom.com

REGION 4: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee

Project 4-1: Lead Poisoning Prevention Program for the Choctaw Tribe

Lead: Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians

Issue: This project looks at lead-based paint poisoning.

Approach: X-ray fluorescence testing for lead-based paint will be conducted in tribal homes and buildings as well as blood-lead testing of children under three years of age living in these homes.

Impact: The project identified the sources of lead-based paint poisoning. This allowed for the development and implementation of a remediation strategy that greatly reduced the incidence of lead poisoning among tribal members.

Location: This project is located on the Choctaw reservation located in east central Mississippi.

Contact: Bernadette Hudnell, Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians (Region 4) (601) 650-7447, Bhudnell@choctaw.org

Project 4-2: Mercury in Fish Studies: Miccosukee Tribe

Lead: Miccosukee Tribe of Florida

Issue: This project looks at elevated levels of mercury in fish.

Approach: Epidemiological investigations involving fish tissue sampling, interviews, surveys, lab analysis, and blood-mercury levels have been made.

Impact: Based on the information provided in the epidemiological investigations, fish advisories were released to the general tribal population thus reducing the incidences and impacts of mercury poisoning.

Location: This project is located on the Miccosukee reservation located in the Florida Everglades.

Contact: Steve Terry, Director, Environmental Program Office of the Miccosukee Tribe of Florida

Project 4-3: Educational Outreach Program for Lead Poisoning Prevention

Lead: Poarch Band of Creek Indians

Issue: This project focuses on prevention of blood-lead poisoning.

Approach: Blood-Lead screening of tribal members, including children, to determine the extent and level of blood-lead poisoning has been conducted.

Impact: The information provided by this project resulted in the development and implementation of a strategy to reduce blood-lead poisoning among tribal members.

Location: This project is located among the Poarch Band of Creek Indians in Atmore, Alabama.

Contact: Laura Cook, Coordinator, Environmental Office; Poarch Band of Creek Indians

Project 4-4: Effects of Acid Deposition on Fish and Wildlife

Lead: Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians

Issue: This project focuses on toxics in fish tissue.

Approach: Fish tissue samples will be collected for various toxic substances to determine if threshold levels are being exceeded.

Impact: This project will determine the impacts of acid deposition on fish and is located on the Cherokee reservation in western North Carolina.

Contact: Carmen McIntyre, Manager, Environmental Office; Cherokee, North Carolina

REGION 5: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin

Project 5-1: Assessing Contaminants in Tribal Foods

Lead: Minnesota Chippewa Tribe; Involved - Grand Portage Band of Chippewa, Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, White Earth Band of Chippewa

Issue: Environmental data collection and analysis is being undertaken to assess the concentrations of various contaminants in fish tissues and other protein sources. Among the fish to be tested are walleye, whitefish, and tulibee, which are harvested by tribal members and constitute a major part of members' diets. The fish tissues will be tested for dioxins and furans, PCBs, and organochlorine pesticides. The Minnesota Chippewa Tribe (MCT) and the member Bands have also done extensive testing for mercury in fish tissues and will be continuing to do so. The lab data is compared to specified action levels to determine if fish of the size and species routinely caught and consumed by tribal members from on-Reservation fisheries lakes may have pollutant concentrations that may present public health risks. An important element of the project is MCT and the Chippewa Bands are also collecting and testing tissues from other species, including waterfowl and deer. This will serve two important science objectives:

Obtaining preliminary information on accumulation of pollutants in avian and mammalian species from contact with water and consumption of aquatic plants; and
Obtaining preliminary data on possible health risks associated with consumption of tissue from these other food sources.

With regard to many pollutants, there is reasonably good information on possible risks from consumption of fish, but additional data would be helpful to be able to compare the expected risks from fish consumption vs. risks from consumption of alternative food sources such as duck or deer. A longer term goal is to also test other food sources for contaminants, including commodity/commercial food sources. This will allow for the development of more comprehensive tribal food consumption guides.

Approach: Test tissues for contaminants using state-of-the-art lab methods, and compare measured concentrations to health-based criteria, to assess potential human health risks and develop consumption advisories, as needed.

Impact: This project will significantly increase the information available to tribal members about the relative health risks of many key food sources, allowing for better dietary planning by members and better understanding of possible risks associated with various food source alternatives.

Location: Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Cass Lake, MN, and other Chippewa Band Reservations in northern MN

Contact: John Persell - Director, Minnesota Chippewa Tribe Research Laboratory (218) 335-6303

REGION 6: Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas

Project 6-1: Re-vegetation Pilot Project of Culturally Significant Plants

Lead: Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma

Issue: Re-vegetation of a small plot of tribal land with native plants of cultural significance to the tribe.

Approach: Scope the area of the pilot project. Determine plant species available on site. Assess area for project use visual survey of land area approx. 2700-2800 feet perimeter of total site area to include existing trees and plant species, both for removal and inclusion for project. Environmental Director, Assistant, and Seneca-Cayuga Language and Cultural Society Volunteers, walked entire area to determine plant species.

Plant species recognized: Spicewood, Hackberry tree, Oak tree, Buckbrush, Poison Ivy, Sweet William, Berry vines. No visible trails.

The next step is to selective cut undesirable tree and plant species. Thus, providing clear area to replant. Siting of area includes an access road Approx. 350' length x 15' wide into project area, available water in Sycamore Creek, approx. 750' from designated area as well as a natural pond, possibly underground spring fed, approx. 300' from designated area. Overall, the site is a wet weather gully within 200' of Sycamore Creek and this portion of the area would not be accessible by 4 wheel drive. Trees had no leaves, unable to determine species type. There was a large amount of downed trees and heavy brush. Project area of approx. 45'x50' was flagged for actual site plots, by accessibility and visual inspection of prospective tree/debris removal. First trees will be cleared by size and then by amount of material to be removed. Plant species are transplanted from other areas to the new prepared plots. The environmental department will check the plant re-growth throughout the coming seasons, and add new plant species as available.

Impact: Purpose for this project is to promote protection of culturally significant plants and the close relationship between the environmental world and the inter-connection of the natural resources used by native people. In addition, the project area is maintained and can be utilized by the tribe as an outdoor classroom for cultural and environmental education.

Location: Oklahoma

Contact: Kendal Coats, Muscogee (Creek) Nation (Region 6) (918) 756-8626, kcoats.oes@ocevnet.org

REGION 7: Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska

Project 7-1: Air Monitoring for the Purpose of Regional Haze Planning in the Central United States

Lead: Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri

Participants: Washington University in St. Louis, CENRAP (Central States Regional Air Planning Association), and USEPA

Issue: Data analysis and modeling is needed to support State and Tribal Implementation Plan development in response to the Regional Haze Rule promulgated by USEPA on July 1, 1999.

Approach: In response to this need, CENRAP has funded the St. Louis - Midwest Supersite Consortium to expand its fine particulate monitoring effort to include a site in rural northeast Kansas. In collaboration with the Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri, a movable monitoring platform was deployed in Reserve, Kansas for two six-week periods to characterize the physical and chemical properties of ambient fine particulate matter. The aerosol measurement matrix includes: semi-continuous (hourly or finer time resolution) PM-2.5 number, mass, sulfate, nitrate, black carbon and light scattering; and daily 24-hour integrated PM-2.5 mass and chemical speciation (EC/OC, ions, XRF elements), PM-10 mass and precursor gases (sulfuric acid, nitric acid, nitrous acid, and ammonium). On-site meteorology includes wind speed and direction, temperature, and relative humidity. This site also features a recently installed IMPROVE Protocol sampler operated by the Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri.

Impact: These deployments - in late Summer 2002 and Winter 2002 - are designed to provide data on aerosol properties at high time resolution to support a variety of analyses. Examples of results that are of interest to CENRAP are the observed diurnal patterns in the major aerosol constituents and the relation between aerosol levels and the governing synoptic scale meteorology.

Location: This project is located in northeast Kansas (39° 58' 43.95" N, 95° 34' 3.72" W).

Contact: Gina Kneib, Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri, Kansas (Region 7) (785) 742-4707, sacepa@jbntelco.com

References: For additional information on the Central States Regional Air Planning Association, please see the CENRAP web site. For additional project information, please see the St. Louis - Midwest Supersite Consortium web site.

REGION 8: Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming

Project 8-1: Toxicological Assessment of Fish Tissue

Lead: The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation

Issue: The Flathead Indian Reservation, in northwest Montana, comprises some of the headwaters of the Columbia River system. The southern half of Flathead Lake and the Flathead watershed are situated on the Reservation. Parts of the Reservation and other lands in the catchment are intensely farmed. Major crops include cherries, potatoes, feed and seed grains, and hay. Agricultural producers have traditionally and typically applied pesticides to their crops. There is concern about potential negative human health and ecological effects of agricultural and other chemicals in fish tissue in Reservation waters. The tribes have limited data on persistent toxins in fish from rivers and streams found on the Reservation. A 1994 study identified mercury and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in game fish in Flathead Lake (1994 Phillips). A monitoring project was initiated to evaluate mercury, persistent pesticides and other bioaccumulative toxins in fish tissue in several smaller lakes and rivers on the Reservation.

Approach: The Tribal Fisheries Department of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes was awarded a $25,000 grant from EPA to conduct a toxicological assessment of fish tissue.

Impact: The tribe would like to develop fish consumption advisories, if needed, with the data to protect tribal members who fish for subsistence purposes.

Location: Project is located on the Flathead Reservation in Western Montana.

Contact: Sean Cross, Fisheries Biologist, The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, 406-675-2700, seanc@cskt.org

References: Phillips and Bahls. (1994). State of Montana memo: Monitoring of mercury and PCBs in fishes from Montana Waters.

Project 8-2: Special Study of the Warwick and Tokio Aquifers

Lead: Spirit Lake Nation

Issue: These aquifers are the primary water source for more than 15,000 people within the reservation, the City of Devils Lake, and portions of Ramsey County, North Dakota. Groundwater irrigation has increased markedly within the last decade and the aquifers have several municipal users.

Approach: The Sprit Lake Nation started this multi-year study with a $151,000 special projects water grant from EPA Region 8 in FY2001. The tribe is monitoring water quality and water levels at twenty-three semi-permanent wetlands and ten monitoring wells within the two aquifers. Data gathered from this study will include fish and biological biota studies; location of above and underground fuel tanks, residential septic systems, animal feed lots, private wells and irrigation permits; and crop type, distribution, and pesticide/herbicide use over the aquifers. The project requires coordination with local, state and federal agencies, and academic institutions including USGS, ND Water Commission, various agriculture departments, and private landowners within the reservation boundaries.

Impact: Data from this study will be used to develop a source water assessment plan for the tribal water system and the communities of Warwick and Hamar, ND, which overlie the Warwick Aquifer. The tribe will work with state agencies and landowners to abandon any improperly constructed wells within the boundaries of the two aquifers. Data will be uploaded annually to EPA's STORET system and it will be presented at various tribal meetings throughout the study.

Location: Spirit Lake Nation is located in the northeastern quadrant of North Dakota and bounded on the North by Devils Lake and to the south by the Sheyenne River. The Tokio and Warwick Aquifers are located in the southeastern quadrant of the Spirit Lake Nation Reservation, and lay in part of Benson, Eddy, and Nelson Counties within North Dakota.

Contact: Silas Ironhorse, Tribal Environmental Administrator, 701-766-4221, ironheart@spiritlakenation.com.

References: Preliminary data is available on the Spirit Lake Nation

web site, under the link entitled "Environmental Data".

Project 8-3: CAA-103 (Clean Air Grant)

Lead: Northwestern Band of Shoshone Nation

Issue: Complaints from citizens on potential air problems.

Approach: To conduct an emissions inventory of air pollution sources and health threats on the reservation. Emissions inventory was completed

Impact: Results from the emissions inventory showed elevated levels of ozone and particulate matter. The tribe will receive an Air grant to set up monitoring sources for PM2.5 and ozone to assess any impacts.

Location: Northwestern Band of Shoshone Nation Tribe reservation.

Contact: Jason Walker, (208) 478-5713.

REGION 9: Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, and the territories of Guam and America Samoa

Project 9-1: Tribal Partnerships in Pesticide Management to Protect Human Health

Lead: Big Valley Rancheria

Participants: Local Agricultural Commissioner, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation

Issue: The purpose of this project was to understand and respond to a pesticide drift exposure incident that occurred in February 2002 as well as develop strategies to prevent repeat occurrences.

Approach: Using a previously prepared pesticide history investigation, the tribe partnered with the local agricultural commissioner and the California Department of Pesticide Regulation. The tribe participated in the investigation, worked with the injured parties, came to new agreements with the neighboring grower who was responsible for the incident, and began to have a better understanding of the issues of residential/agricultural interface.

Impact: Outreach to tribal members and tribal youth as a result of this incident has resulted in an increased awareness of the need to be attentive of pesticide usage both on and off tribal lands. Tribes have also found the necessity to understand in detail the pesticide usage in their watershed and near their lands. Having knowledge of a pesticide's environmental fate, half-life, restricted uses and risks will serve a tribe that wants to become aware of the possible contamination profile of tribal and surrounding lands. A tribe that is aware of these issues may also find that it can be involved in the decision of which pesticides can be applied on nearby agricultural lands or on non-agricultural lands that contain plants important to tribal culture.

An additional outcome of this project is the ability to communicate to others the issues, strengths, and disadvantages of a rural tribe surrounded by countywide agricultural production.

Location: This project is located at Big Valley Rancheria in Northern California.

Contact: Sarah Ryan, Environmental Outreach Coordinator; Big Valley Rancheria (Region 9): 707-263-3924 x3025, sryan@big-valley.net.

REGION 10: Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington

Project 10-1: Development of a Guide to help Alaska Native communities take action to address their concerns about environmental changes

Leads: The Alaska Native Science Commission, Institute of Social and Economic Research

Issue: This project is intended to bridge the risk communication gap between western science and the Native American Commission.

Approach: EPA has given a grant to The Alaska Native Science Commission and the Institute of Social and Economic Research develop a guide to help Alaska Native communities in Alaska take action to address their concerns about environmental changes.

Impact: This project is to benefit federally recognized tribes in Alaska. Specifically, we intend this guide to help Alaska Native communities to participate in a mini-grant program funded by the US Environmental Protection Agency and administered by the Alaska Native Science. The guide is still being developed.

Location: This project is located in Alaska.

Contact: Fran Stefan, EPA Region 10

References: The draft guide can be viewed on The Alaska Native Science Commission's Alaska Traditional Knowledge and Native Foods Database .

Project 10-2: Understanding and Responding to Health Risks from Bioaccumulative Shellfish Toxins in Region 10

Lead: Swinomish Tribal Community

Issue: As a result of subsistence consumption, cultural, and religious practices, tribal peoples are often exposed to higher levels of contaminants in the environment than other American peoples. Swinomish Tribal Community ORD has funded a $1.1M grant to the Swinomish Tribal Community to study the presence of and potential adverse impacts from low level, chronic exposures to bioaccumulative toxins in shellfish from traditionally harvested areas.

Approach: Twenty-one such areas have been selected for shellfish and sediment sampling. All of the samples will be analyzed for polyaromatic hydrocarbons, chlorinated dioxins and furans, polychloronated biphenyls, and heavy metals. Researchers will use Native American shellfish consumption rates for the Puget Sound to determine any connection between the calculated health risks from the toxics and prevalent health issues on the Swinomish Reservation.

Impact: The results of this project are expected to help improve the health of tribal communities being studied as well as provide a basis for further evaluation of these and other tribes in the Northwest. In general, these projects will identify the extent of contamination of tribal environments and the extent to which this contamination may result in adverse risks to tribal health and culture. With appropriate communication, risk management approaches will be developed which are effective at reducing health and ecological risks to tribes and tribal lands.

Location: This project is located on the Swinomish Reservation in Puget Sound, Washington.

Contact: Charles O'Hara,
Office of Planning and Community Development
Swinomish Indian Tribal Community
P.O. box 817 LaConner 98257
(360) 466-7203
cohara@swinomish.nsn.us

Project 10-3: Understanding and Responding to Tribal Health Risks from Arsenic in Region 10

Lead: Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe

Issue: As a result of subsistence consumption, cultural, and religious practices, tribal peoples are often exposed to higher levels of contaminants in the environment than other American peoples. Previous measurements of Puget Sound shellfish conducted by the Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe have shown high amounts of arsenic and some areas of Puget Sound also have arsenic in drinking water. A closed and capped, but unlined landfill on Kitsap County land is upgradient of the Reservation and the tribe's shellfish beds. Surface water quality sampling of the creeks down gradient from the landfill has detected arsenic leachate from the landfill.

Approach: The Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribal Council requested Region 10 to conduct an arsenic exposure evaluation for their Tribal members. EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD) has participated in meetings with the tribe, prepared a research proposal that was presented to and accepted by the Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribal Council, and has conducted environmental and human blood and urine sampling and arsenic analyses according to this proposal.

Impact: This summer, individuals and their physicians (if requested) will receive their personal blood and urine results. Region 10, with input from ORD, will prepare a written report for review by the Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe, and will conduct meetings to discuss the results.

The results of this project are expected to help improve the health of tribal communities being studied as well as provide a basis for further evaluation of these and other tribes in the Northwest. In general, these projects will identify the extent of contamination of tribal environments and the extent to which this contamination may result in adverse risks to tribal health and culture. With appropriate communication, risk management approaches will be developed which are effective at reducing health and ecological risks to tribes and tribal lands.

Location: This project is located in Port Gamble, Washington.

Contact: Roseanne Lorenzana
Regional Science Liaison
Region 10
(206)-553-8002
lorenzana.roseanne@epa.gov

Project 10-4: Sources of Particulate Matter affecting Tribal Communities in Region 10

Lead: Shoshone-Bannock Tribes

Issue: As a result of subsistence consumption, cultural, and religious practices, tribal peoples are often exposed to higher levels of contaminants in the environment than other American peoples. The U.S. EPA Region 10 requested the assistance of National Exposure Research Laboratory/EPA's Office of Research and Development (NERL/ORD) to identify the major PM10 sources within the FMC complex and the possible causes of the exceedances so that effective control strategies could be developed and implemented.

Approach: Beginning in October 1996, the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, under a grant from the U.S. EPA Region 10, monitored ambient air quality on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation. Between October 1996 and July 1998, the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for 24-h averaged PM10 mass (particles < 10 µm aerodynamic diameter) was exceeded on 61 days at one or both monitoring sites immediately downwind of the FMC phosphorus production facility. Portions of the Fort Hall reservation had been declared a PM10 non-attainment area because of these violations. A variety of technical approaches were used to determine the cause of the exceedances.

Impact: The results of the PM study on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation were used by Region 10 to support the Federal Implementation Plan (FIP) which established enforceable emission limitations for all significant emission sources at the FMC facility. In addition, this study provided some important air quality information to the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes on the Fort Hall Reservation. A follow-on study is planned.

Location: This project is located on the Fort Hall Reservation in Washington.