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RCRA Tribal Sub-Region
FY2007 Region 10 RCRA Tribal Waste Team Report
Regions 8 and 10 share a unique role as joint RCRA Tribal Sub-lead Regions.
Under their leadership, OSW and RCRA Regional Offices have developed new
management tools which are essential to a modern OSW Tribal Program:

These management tools are:

• Two GPRA Strategic Targets for tribes which measure the number of open dumps
  which have been cleaned, closed or upgraded and the number of tribes which are
  covered by integrated waste management plans.
• The OSW and Regional Tribal Strategy.
• Tribal Integrated Waste Management Plan tutorials and models.
• A field survey form and data dictionary for characterizing open dumps.

2008 and Beyond:
• Continue to build Region 10 RCRA Tribal Waste Team  capabilities
• Meet or exceed National  EPA Solid Waste Performance Measure targets
• Seek to develop creative funding efforts to support tribal waste projects
• Build inter-agency efforts to address solid waste problems
• Provide technical assistance and training to tribes on grant writing and solid waste
  planning
• Manage Solid Waste Assistance Project Grants
• Collaborate on global climate change efforts in Alaska
                           Contact Information:

                               Fran Stefan
                      RCRA Tribal Waste Team Leader
                          Phone:  (206)553-6639
                       Email:  Stefan.Fran@epa.gov
Description of the problem:

Tribes in Region 10 have worked hard to tackle the problems of waste dumping,
burning, and blight to the land. Despite these efforts, approximately 200 active open
dumps continue to impact tribal lands in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. Dumping
from off-reservation sources continues to be a problem for many tribes throughout
the region.
Tire Pile at Yakama Reservation
Active Dump at Makah Reservation
Tribal members are concerned about the harm wastes pose to the health of
community members and the environment they rely on for subsistence food and
drinking water. Hazards in many of these open dumps include household cleaners,
paints and solvents, toxic metals from batteries, electronics and appliances, waste
oils, medical waste, and sewage. Contaminants from waste can pose a threat to
subsistence fish, game, and plants. Burning wastes can impact clean air and
leaching waste can threaten drinking water.
                                                                                 Burning Waste at Eek, Alaska
                                      Waste in Tundra Pond at Nunapitchuk,
                                      Alaska
                                                                                 Tribes in Region 10 are organizing and voicing concerns about the impacts of waste
                                                                                 on the health of their community members. They are placing waste management as
                                                                                 a higher and higher environmental priority. At the same time, resources for solid
                                                                                 waste work are often extremely limited, leaving tribes to struggle from year to year to
                                                                                 maintain the staff and infrastructure needed to manage waste safely. Even more
                                                                                 daunting are the costs of building transfer stations and landfills, and purchasing vital
                                                                                 equipment.
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                                                             SWMAP Funds
                                                                    $1.6M
Need Outweighs Available Funds

The need for solid waste resources far
outweighs the available federal funding.
For example in 2007, the Inter-Agency
Tribal Solid Waste Management
Assistance Project (SWMAP) received
approximately $10 million in grant
requests from tribes. Available funding
from the five participating federal
agencies totaled only $1.6  million, just
16% of the need.

Strategy to address the  problem:

In FY2007, the EPA Region 10 RCRA Tribal Waste Team continued to play a pivotal
national role as a RCRA Tribal Sub-lead Region to raise awareness of the serious
health and environmental threats  that open dumps and solid waste play in Indian
country. On the home front, the team built and leveraged an ever-growing capacity
to provide technical, financial, and coordinating assistance to tribes to solve solid
waste problems.

The work we do helps further the  Region 10 Tribal Environmental Health Priority and
is guided by the Office of Solid Waste and Regional Tribal Integrated  Waste
Management Strategy. The outputs and outcomes of our efforts are measured
through the National EPA Tribal Solid Waste Strategic Targets.
Moving Waste at Kwigillingok, Alaska
                                      Incinerating Waste at Sand Point, Alaska
The assistance we provide comes in many forms. For example, it can be providing
grant funding to develop a much needed planning tool for sustainable waste
management or to close unsafe open dumps.  At other times, our assistance can
take the form of facilitating partnerships among federal, tribal, state and local
governments to solve specific environmental issues.  Routinely, we offer Pacific
Northwest and Alaska Tribes ongoing, direct on-site solid waste technical
assistance.
The St. Mary's Summit of 2007 marked several YRITWC 10-year achievements.
Today, the YRITWC:

• Represents 66 Tribes and First Nations in Alaska and Canada
• Commands an environmentally sophisticated scientific, technical and political
  workforce
• Manages a $1.5 million budget and multiple environmental programs
• Works to increase water quality and environmental integrity in a massive
  ecosystem
• Monitors 2300 miles of River and millions of acres of land
• Runs a backhaul program which has removed 3+ million pounds of wastes from
  tribal communities since 2005
• Offers a remarkable model of partnership among diverse peoples determined to
  preserve their lands and way of life
• Offers a superb example of what native peoples armed with a vision and capacity
  to work together can accomplish, not only for them but for us  all

Many EPA Region 10 programs, notably the EPA Solid and Hazardous Waste
Program, Brownfield's Program, and Indian General Assistance Program have been
partners and supporters of this ground-breaking organization. At the July 2007
Summit, the Yukon River Inter-tribal Watershed Council awarded EPA Region 10
and Fran Stefan plaques in recognition of their support.

Grant Management:

In FY2007, the RCRA Tribal Waste Team managed 18 grants and Inter-Agency
Agreements totaling $1.4 million. The team participated in national grant
competitions and reviews for both the Inter-Agency Tribal Solid  Waste Management
Assistance Project and the EPA Tribal Hazardous Waste Grant  Program. Members
of the team reviewed 32 grant proposals from Region  10 tribes  comprising
approximately 30% of the total  proposals received nationally. Tribes in Region 10
continue to demonstrate increasing need for solid and hazardous waste
project funding that far outweighs the current available funding through EPA.
These grants are critical for safe tribal waste systems and meeting solid waste
strategic targets.

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reservation. After planning and design funding and technical assistance from EPA,
USDA-RD has now stepped in to fund the final construction and equipment
installation at the transfer stations.

RCRA Tribal Team Sponsors 12th Annual
Alaska Tribal Environmental Management Conference:
                       In FY2007, the team continued to fund the Alaska Native
                       Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC) through an on-going
                       Inter-Agency Agreement with Indian Health Service. The
                       partnership project leverages the expertise of ANTHC
                       personnel to provide technical assistance and mini-grants
                       to tribes in Alaska for solid waste planning. Importantly,
                       the project sponsored the 12th year of the Alaska Tribal
                       Environmental Management Conference, a major
                       gathering of tribes, federal, state, and local agencies,
                       private sector, and community groups convening to share
                       information on environmental and solid waste issues
                       impacting Alaska.

Tribal Solid Waste Advisory Network Celebrates 10 Years of Success:
                       Founded in  1997, the Tribal Solid Waste Advisory
                       Network (TSWAN) is a non-profit alliance of 20 federally-
                       recognized tribes from the Pacific Northwest and Alaska.
                       EPA Region 10 played an instrumental role in funding the
                       fledgling organization and working collaboratively with
                       member tribes to build TSWAN's capacity. In 2007,
                       TSWAN celebrated its 10th year of successful, ground-
                       breaking work to strategize and implement solid waste
                       solutions in  Indian country. Successes include creating
                       and implementing the TSWAN Integrated Solid Waste
                       Planning Template - a unique tutorial to help tribes write
integrated solid waste management plans which are suited to their localities,
cultures and needs. The TSWAN template and technical support on using the
template is in high demand throughout the region and the nation.  This is just one of
many TSWAN successes culminating in FY2007. TSWAN awarded plaques to Al
LaTourette and Fran Stefan in recognition of their support of this tribal partnership
for solid waste.

The Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council 2007 Summit:
The Healing Journey
                       August 9 -13, 2007 the Yukon River  Inter-Tribal
                       Watershed Council  (YRITWC) celebrated its 10th
                       anniversary with a 2300 mile paddle  the length of the
                       Yukon River, culminating in a 5-day Summit in St. Mary's,
                       Alaska. The YRITWC began in 1997  when chiefs and
elders from peoples living along the Yukon River gathered in Galena, Alaska. They
came together to talk about growing health problems in their communities,
inadequate environmental monitoring and loss of their ways of life.  Out of this first
talking circle they evolved a new alliance—the Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed
Council—whose goal is to "once again drink clean water directly from the River as
our ancestors before us."
Key FY2007 accomplishments:

Open Dumps and Integrated Waste Management Plans:

Region 10 Meets and Exceeds Tribal Solid Waste Strategic Targets:
In FY2007, EPA Region 10 partnered with tribes to close and clean up 2 significant
open dumps impacting tribal lands, meeting our strategic target for the year. In
addition, Region 10 worked with tribes to log 10 tribal integrated waste management
plans, far exceeding our commitment of 4 for the year.

Nikolski Completes Drum Cleanup/Creates Solid Waste Plan:
The Native Village of Nikolski completed a drum consolidation and soil remediation
project that may well serve as a model for other villages in remote parts of Alaska.
Nikolski  is a small, traditional Aleut community located in the central Aleutian
Islands,  900 air miles from Anchorage, Alaska. Archeologists have recovered
evidence from the Chaluka Mound, located within the Native Village of Nikolski,
leading them to believe Nikolski may be the oldest continuously occupied
community site in the western hemisphere (8,500 years).

                                             The Nikolski drum removal effort
                                             moved over 200 drums, junk
                                             vehicles, and scraps metal off-
                                             site for proper disposal and
                                             cleaned up contaminated soils.
                                             Through the efforts of Nikolski,
                                             EPA Region 10 Indian General
                                             Assistance Program, the Alaska
                                             Department of Environmental
                                             Conservation, the Chaluka Native
                                             Corporation, and the Aleutian
                                             Pribilof Islands Association, the
                                             project serves to protect the
                                             villagers from potential health
                                             impacts from the waste. This is
                                             especially important because the
Nikolski Drum Project in Process:
village economy is almost entirely subsistence-based. This effort is monumental
considering the remote location and harsh weather in Nikolski.  Frequent terrible
storms and dense fog visit the island, making it inaccessible during many parts of
the year.

In addition to the drum cleanup project, Nikolski worked with an EPA Solid Waste
Management Assistance grant to draft a new solid waste management plan and
ordinance for their community. The community rallied together to undertake the
difficult task of siting a new landfill. The village coordinated with the team, EPA
Region 10 Alaska Operations Office, and the Alaska Department of Environmental
Conservation on permitting issues and partnered with the Aleutian Pribilof Islands
Association to access key technical assistance.

Yakama Nation Closes Medicine Valley Dump:
In FY2007, Yakama Nation tribal solid waste managers successfully leveraged tribal
and EPA Indian General Assistance Program funds to close a significant dump site.
The Yakama Indian Nation reservation is 1.2 million acres - twice as large as the
state of Rhode Island. There are approximately 8500 tribal members living on the
reservation, however, they make up only 20% of the population within the
reservation boundaries. Non-members, as a result of the Dawes Act, live within the

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reservation boundaries on fee land creating a checkerboard pattern of land
ownership. The Nation has revitalized its solid waste management program, in part
due to serious problems with illegal dumping by non-tribal members.

The Medicine Valley Dump contained municipal solid waste, electronics waste, and
potential hazardous waste. The waste was primarily located on the surface with no
cover. The site had become inactive and the tribe took action to control site access,
remove the waste, dispose of the waste at an appropriate solid waste landfill, and
actively monitor the site to ensure it remains clean.

Circuit Rider Partners with Tribes to Inventory Dump Sites:
                        In FY2007, Circuit Rider Al LaTourette continued to
                        partner with and train tribal solid waste staff to
                        systematically locate and record the unique attributes of
                        illegal open dump sites of concern to tribes. In the
                        process, Al programmed and field-tested a new piece of
                        equipment, the hand-held Trimble Got Global Positioning
                        System Receiver with  built-in data logging capability.
                        This technology allows the user to log location and
                        descriptive information in the field and transfer it
                        electronically to a dump inventory database and mapping
                        software.  This work is important because it allows tribes
                        and EPA to produce electronic inventories and maps  of
                        open dumps  to support efforts to garner  resources to
                        clean  up and close illegal dump sites.
Pacific Northwest and Alaska Tribal Waste Inventory Reveals Insights:
Region 10 has compiled an inventory of waste management conditions in 229
Alaskan Native Villages and 42 tribes in the Pacific Northwest. In FY2007, the
inventory was used to report and track strategic targets, develop a baseline of waste
burning activities in Alaska, and track dozens of village site visits and technical
assistance to tribes. In FY2007 the inventory shows:

• 10 tribes have solid waste management plans and 18 more are nearing
  completion -all plans address EPA-recommended elements
• 80 additional tribes have plans that are tailored for their communities or are under
  development
• 391 sites, including 261 open dumps, 95 landfills and 35 transfer stations are
  cataloged
• Tribes/communities are actively working to clean up/close at least 22 problem
  dump sites
• At least 98 tribes have voiced concern over health  and environmental impacts
  from waste
• Approximately 114 Alaska communities are burning waste through open burning,
  backyard burn barrels, burn boxes, and/or incinerators
• Information  on access road conditions for 73 dump and landfill sites in Alaska are
  logged
Collaboration:

Circuit Riders Visit 22 Tribes and Villages:
In FY2007, the Region 10 RCRATribal
Waste Team circuit riders provided in-
person technical assistance to 22
villages and tribes throughout the
region. Al LaTourette and Ted Jacobson,
circled  at right, traveled over 2700 miles,
visited  16 dump sites and landfills,
assessed and inventoried solid waste
site conditions, and met with tribal and
village  contacts. The circuit riders act as
solid waste liasons meeting face to face,
fielding phone calls and providing
technical support to tribal staff and
leaders. The extensive on-the-ground
experience and knowledge of Al and Ted
is a key factor in their success and
ability to build lasting relationships with
tribes.

EPA and Indian  Health  Service Launch Joint Open Dump Tracking System:
In FY2007, the Region 10 RCRA Tribal Waste Team collaborated with Regions 8
and 9 and the Indian Health Service (IMS) to re-design the wSTARS Operations and
Maintenance Data System to store and track tribal open dump  information. The
results  of the cross-agency work include building a joint data system accessible to
IMS and EPA personnel, creating a field form for engineers and site assessors to
use when logging open dump assessments, and writing  a field  guide that defines a
common understanding of the key terms and conditions  needed to track the clean
up of open dumps across the country.
            Sanitation Tracking and Reporting System (STARS)
            Welcome to STARS, a system of the Indian Health Service (MS).
         Overview of the Web Sanitation Tracking and Reporting System (wSTARS)
EPA Region 10 Builds Partnership with
US Department of Agriculture-Rural Development:
In  FY2007, the RCRA Tribal Waste Team hosted two meetings with the US
Department of Agriculture-Rural Development (USDA-RD). State directors and staff
from Idaho, Oregon and Washington met with the team to launch an effort to work
more strategically together to support tribal efforts to build safe waste systems. An
example of the benefits of working together is the staged funding provided by EPA,
IHS and USDA-RD to the Spokane Tribe to plan for, design, build and implement a
new transfer station system to replace two large, unmanaged  open dumps on the
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