NEWS
The Tribal Newsletter
is published free monthly
To receive a copy, call:
AK: Santina 907-271-3413
ID: Jim 208-378-5691
OR: Don 503-326-5015
WA: Alison 360-753-8185
LETTER
^5
egion 10.
Tribal
wsletter
http://yosemite.epa.gov/R10/TRIBALNSF/Newsletter/lssues
SEPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Vol. 24 No. 3
March 2015
Conferences and Workshops
March
2-6
Air Pollution Technology, Flagstaff, AZ
Visit http://www4.nau.edu/itep/air/training_aq.asp
4
National Conference Call for Tribes on the National Program Guidance, 11 AM - Noon,
Pacific time. Phone: 1-866-299-3188, Conference Code: 2025643020#
Visit http://go.usa.gov/SDAR
10-11
ATNI Tribal Leaders Summit on Climate Change, Portland, OR
http://www.atnitribes.org
17-19
Region 10 RTOC Meeting, Seattle, WA. Contact JR Herbst at herbst.john@epa.gov
or 206-553-2116.
23-27
Competing for Federal Grants, Phoenix AZ. Hosted by the Inter Tribal Council of Arizona.
To register, go to http://www.tgci.com/event_details/103603/103602
April
7-10
Tribal Participation in State Implementation Plan, Dallas, TX
Visit http://www4.nau.edu/itep/air/training_aq_aqc.asp
14-17
Indoor Air Quality in Alaska, Kodiak, AK
http://www4.nau.edu/itep/air/training_aq_iaqak.asp
16-17
Tribal Environmental Regulation and Jurisdiction, Blue Lake, CA. Offered by the Northwest
Environmental Training Center. Will focus on environmental regulation and jurisdictional
issues on and affecting Indian Reservations.
https://nwetc.org/course-catalog/pol-430-apr-16-17-2015
21-22
Tribal Wetland Working Group (TWIG) workshop. Hosted by the Suquamish Tribe, WA.
Contact Tom Curley at tcurley@suquamish.nsn.us
or Rudy Salakory at rsalakory@cowlitz.org
27 - May 1 Water Quality Standards Academy, Washington DC. Registration deadline is March 6.
Please apply online at: http://svy.mk/lCklLfs
Online registration is the preferred method, however, you may also apply by phone by
calling the EPA WQSA Registration Coordinator, Erin Cabral, at 508-833-6600.
28 - May 1 Clean Air Act and Permitting, Las Vegas, NV
Visit http://www4.nau.edu/itep/air/training_aq_caap.asp
<3 Continued
-------
Region 7 0 Tribal Newsletter
March 2015
Conferences and Workshops
Continued
—s
May
5-7
Indoor Air Quality in Alaska, Fairbanks, AK
Visit http://www4.nau.edu/itep/air/training_aq_iaqak.asp
12-14
NAFWS National Adaptation Forum (Climate Change), St. Louis, MO
http://nationaladaptationforum.org
19-21
2015 National Tribal Forum on Air Quality, Battle Creek, Ml
http://www4.nau.edu/itep/conferences/confr_ntf.asp
27-29
Salmon Recovery Conference, Vancouver, WA
www.rco.wa.gov/salmon_recovery/Conference.shtml
June
2-5
Introduction to Tribal Air Quality, Flagstaff, AZ
Visit http://www4.nau.edu/itep/air/training_aq_itaq.asp
29 - July 1 Rising Voices Climate Workshop, Boulder, CO
http://www2.mmm.ucar.edu/projects/RisingVoices/rising_voices3.php
August
17-20
2015 Tribal Lands and Environment Forum, Minneapolis, MN
http://www4.nau.edu/itep/conferences/confr_tlf.asp
18-20
Air Pollution Modeling, Denver, CO
http://www4.nau.edu/itep/air/training_aq.asp
September
1-3
Treatment As a State, Location to be announced.
http://www4.nau.edu/itep/air/training_aq.asp
2-4
Brownfields 2015 Conference, Chicago, IL
http://www.brownfieldsconference.org/en/home/conference_overview
14-16
25th National Tanks Conference & Expo, Phoenix, AZ
http://www.neiwpcc.org/tanksconference
22-25
Air Pollution Modeling, Denver, CO
http://www4.nau.edu/itep/air/training_aq.asp
For more information on EPA Tribal trainings, webinars, grants, and opportunities for Tribal
consultation, visit www.epa.gov/indian/calendar/index.htm
Tribal Energy Calendar of Events
This calendar lists upcoming events in Indian Country sponsored by DOE and a variety of
government agencies, associations, and organizations.
http://appsl.eere.energy.gov/tribalenergy/events.cfm
*
-------
Region 10 Tribal Newsletter
March 2015
Violet Yeaton Receives 2015 Daniel Ellanak
nvironmental Excellence Award
At this year's Alaska Forum on the Environment conference in
Anchorage, the Regional Tribal Operations Committee had the great
honor of awarding the 2015 Daniel Ellanak award to Violet Yeaton.
Violet was nominated by Patrick Norman from Port Graham Village
Council and Rosalie Kalistook and Daniel Chythlook of the RTOC in
recognition of her outstanding efforts to provide training, tools,
communication and other areas of support, with the capacity for
building tribal environmental programs.
Violet was born in Port Graham, Alaska, and has worked for the Port
Graham Village Council for the past 14 years. She currently serves
as an Environmental Planner with the Village Council. She served as
the second tribal co-chair of the RTOC and led the group in the development of its tribal
priorities document, charter revisions and other significant efforts.
The Ellanak award recognizes the work and achievement of Daniel Ellanak, who passed
away in December 2006. Daniel's family wrote of his work, "Daniel loved his job in the Tribal
Environmental Programs. It gave him better and more opportunities to do well for others."
Daniel once said, "I think we all want to be better people especially as we get older. We are
only given one life and how we live it is very important to those we leave behind."
The award was presented at the RTOC reception, which also featured remarks from RTOC
Co-chair Billy Maines, EPA Regional Director Dennis McLerran, and EPA's American Indian
Environmental Office Director, JoAnn K. Chase. Entertainment was provided by Allison
Warden, an Inupiaq inter-disciplinary artist who also raps under the name AKU-MATU.
Thank you, Violet, for keeping the spirit of Daniel Ellanak alive through your heartfelt,
impactful and inspirational Tribal environmental work! Congratulations!
Region 10 RTOC Membership Changes
In last month's tribal newsletter, we shared the results of the Region 10 Regional Tribal
Operations Committee elections in Alaska. Recently, there have been a number of other
membership changes on the RTOC. Here's a summary of the changes. Thank you to all who
have served on the RTOC, and a warm welcome to new representatives.
RTOC ALASKA POSITION 1: Gerald Anelon Sr. from the lliamna Village Council was elected
as the Primary Representative. Raymond Paddock III from the Central Council of the Tlingit
& Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska has agreed to become the alternate for this position.
RTOC ALASKA POSITION 3: Daniel Chythlook from the Aleknagik Traditional Council has
stepped down as the Primary Representative. Daniel's alternate, Lance Whitwell from
the Native Village of Venetie Tribal Government has agreed to serve out the remainder of
Daniel's term as the Interim Primary. Lance has selected Brian Holter, Jr. from the Craig Tribe
as his Interim Alternate.
RTOC WESTERN WASHINGTON: Destiny Wellman from the Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe has
stepped down as the Primary Representative. Shallee Baker from the Port Gamble S'Klallam
Tribe has agreed to serve out the remainder of Destiny's term as the Interim Primary.
Shallee has selected David Fuller from the same tribe as her Interim Alternate.
RTOC EASTERN WASHINGTON: Noelle Saluskin from the Yakama Nation has stepped down
as the Primary Representative. Elizabeth Sanchey from the Yakama Nation has agreed to
serve out the remainder of Noelle's term as the Interim Primary. Elizabeth has selected
Noelle as her Interim Alternate.
-3
-------
Region 10 Tribal Newsletter
March 2015
Climate Action Plan Toolkit:
EPA Releases Storm water Climate Change Tool
As part of President Obama's Climate
Action Plan Climate Resilience Toolkit, the
EPA announced the release of the Climate
Adjustment Tool for EPA's Stormwater
Management Model - a widely-used,
downloadable online stormwater simulation
model.
The Climate Adjustment Tool allows engineers
and planners to evaluate the performance of
water infrastructure while considering future
climate change projections, such as more
frequent high-intensity storms and changes in
evaporation rates of seasonal precipitation, to
determine the benefits of resiliency decisions
to reduce local economic burden and protect
communities.
The Climate Adjustment Tool, in addition
to other tools in the President's Climate
Action Plan http://toolkit.climate.gov/tools,
can help users make planning, analysis and
design decisions that will guard against the
impacts of climate change. Using these tools
to choose the best adaptation options is
an innovative and efficient way to promote
healthy Virtual waters and support more
sustainable communities.
For more information about the President's
Climate Action Plan, visit
http://go.usa.gov/D7qF
For more information on EPA's Green
Infrastructure research, visit
http://go.usa.gov/kGZQ
G^EAT
EPA Climate Resilience Evaluation and Awareness Tool
CREAT is a tool that assists drinking water
and wastewater utility owners and operators
understand potential climate change threats
and assess the related risks. CREAT allows
users to evaluate potential impacts of cli-
mate change on their utility and to evaluate
adaptive options to address these impacts
using both traditional risk assessment and
scenario-based decision making.
The online Scenario-Based Projected
Changes Map provides easy access to
localized scenarios of projected changes
in annual total precipitation, precipitation
intensity, annual average temperature, and
100-year storm events, sea-level rise from
EPA's Climate Resilience Evaluation and
Awareness Tool.
w
To explore local climate change projection
data across the United States, simply zoom
in on a location of interest or type a location
into the search field of the map.
Explore the map at http://go.usa.gov/3cYCR
For more information on the Climate
Resilience Evaluation and Awareness Tool,
visit http://go.usa.gov/3cYxx
Climate Change Webinars, Conferences and Trainings
For a calendar of climate change and water-related trainings, conferences, and webinars,
visit http://water.epa.gov/scitech/climatechange/Calendar-of-Events.cfm
4 -
-------
Region 10 Tribal Newsletter
March 2015
NOAA Fisheries Releases Draft Climate Science
Strategy for Public Comment
The NOAA Fisheries draft Climate
Science Strategy is designed to increase
the production, delivery and use of
climate-related information to inform
management and use of marine resources.
The draft Strategy is one component
of a proactive approach to collect and
provide information on changing climate
and ocean conditions to stakeholders. It
responds to existing mandates such as
the President's National Climate Action
Plan and the National Fish, Wildlife and
Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy that
call for increased information to better
prepare for and respond to climate-related
impacts. The Strategy identifies seven
steps to increase the production and use
of climate-related information; proposes
actions to address common needs across
regions and agency mandates; and aims
to help reduce impacts and increase
resilience of marine resources and the
communities that depend on them.
Written comments must be submitted on
or before March 31, 2015.
Visit http://go.usa.gov/3cYYw
'Adapting to Change' ITEP video
The film highlights climate change impacts
on tribes and their resources in the Pacific
Northwest and Alaska, adaptation, and the
training. The video and the training were
made possible with funding support from
the USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest
Research Station. The video was filmed
at the Institute for Tribal Environmental
Professionals' Climate Change Adaptation
training in September 2014 in Portland, OR.
See the training at
http://vimeo.com/118150835
Getting to Green: Paying
for Green Infrastructure,
Financing Options
This report summarizes various funding
sources that can be used to support
stormwater management programs or
finance individual projects. Each type of
funding source is illustrated by several
municipal programs and contains a list
of additional resources. A comparative
matrix is included which describes the
advantages and disadvantages of the
various funding sources.
Visit http://go.usa.gov/3c44B
Climate Change
Redistributes Fish Species
For millions of years, large parts of the
marine biotas of the North Atlantic and
North Pacific have been separated by harsh
climate conditions in the Arctic.
A new internationally-based study
shows that climate change has begun to
weaken this natural barrier promoting the
interchange of fishes between the two
oceans along with many ecological and
economic consequences.
Visit http://bit.ly/lFUIrbe
This newsletter contains information from multiple sources including tribes, newspapers, and
other sources. Any information or opinions in this newsletter do not necessarily represent the
views of the United States or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
- 5
-------
Region 7 0 Tribal Newsletter
March 2015
EPA's Tribal Consultation Opportunities
The following tribal consultation opportunities may be of interest to Region 10 Tribes. A full
list of consultation opportunities is available at
http://tcots.epa.gov/oita/tconsultation.nsf/TC70penView
Class Deviation from 40 CFR §35.504, Eligibility of an Intertribal
Consortium Under EPA's Indian Environmental General Assistance
Program (GAP)
END DATE: March 13, 2015
LINK: http://go.usa.gov/S9nH
CONTACT: Luke Jones at jones.luke@epa.gov or 202-564-4013
FY16-FY17 National Program Manager GuidanceEND date: April 30,2015
LINK: http://go.usa.gov/mC3H
National Conference Call for Tribes - March 4
TIME: 11 a.m. to 12 Noon, Pacific time
PHONE: 1-866-299-3188
CONFERENCE CODE: 2025643020#
CONTACT: Jessica Snyder at snyder.jessica@epa.gov or 202-564-1478
Proposed Federal Rulemaking to Update Washington's
Human Health Criteria (Region 10)
END DATE: August 1, 2015
LINK: http://go.usa.gov/3cgVe
CONTACT: Marylou Soscia at Soscia.marylou@epa.gov or 503-326-5873
or Matthew Szelag at szelag.matthew@epa.gov or 206-553-5171
Revisions to the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution
Contingency Plan; Subpart J Product Schedule Listing Requirements
END DATE: April 22, 2015
SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to amend requirements under the National Oil and Hazardous
Substances Pollution Contingency Plan to improve the nation's ability to plan for and respond
to oil spills.
LINK: http://go.usa.gov/3cgfYt
CONTACT: Nick Nichols at Nichols.nick@epa.gov or 202-564-1970
or Victoria Vanroden at vanroden.victoria@epa.gov or 202-564-4253
(1) The Hazardous Waste Generator Improvements Rule;
(2) the Hazardous Waste Pharmaceuticals Rule; and
(3) the Non-hazardous Secondary Materials Rule
END DATE: March 23, 2015
LINK: http://go.usa.gov/3cgGj
CONTACT: Kathy Lett at lett.kathy@epa.gov or 703-605-0761
6-
-------
Region 10 Tribal Newsletter
March 2015
IEPA Tribal Training and Outreach Support for the
American Indian Air Quality Training Program
FUNDING OPPORTUNITY NUMBER:
EPA-OAR-IO-15-03:Th\s notice announces
the availability of funds and solicits
applications from eligible entities to
provide tribal training, technical and
outreach support for the American Indian
Air Quality Training Program.
The American Indian Air Quality
Training Program provides workshop
training, internships and technical
support to tribal governments seeking
to investigate, develop and establish air
quality management programs for lands
under their jurisdiction and provides
opportunity for American Indian students
to pursue environmental careers in the
field of air quality management.
The Tribal Air Monitoring Support Center
is a component of the AIAQTP, and is a
partnership effort between the selected
grant recipient and EPA's Office of Air and
Radiation to provide a full spectrum of
technical support to tribes undertaking air
quality monitoring and related activities.
Indian Tribes are eligible to apply. The
award ceiling is $1,600,000.
CLOSING DATE: April 3
CONTACT: Pat Childers at 202-564-1082 or
childers.pat@epa.gov
LINK: http://go.usa.gov/SXGW
Interior Department to Announce $8 Million for Tribal
Climate Change Adaptation and Planning Projects
As part of the Obama Administration's
effort to prepare communities
nationwide for the impacts of a
changing climate, U.S. Secretary of the
Interior Sally Jewell announced that the
interior Department will make available
$8 million to fund projects that promote
tribal climate change adaptation and ocean
and coastal management planning through
its Tribal Climate Resilience Program.
"No one is impacted by climate change
more than Native communities in Alaska,
but we have also seen serious problems
developing for tribal communities across
the West and on both coasts. We must act
to help protect these communities," said
Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs Kevin
Washburn.
Of the $8 million, $4 million will be available
for Climate Adaptation Planning and another
$4 million for Ocean/Coastal Management
Planning. Funding will support tribal
climate adaptation planning, training, and
participation in technical workshops and
forums. In addition, funding will support
coastal tribes in addressing the challenges of
coastal erosion and development, rising sea
levels, ocean acidification, and emergency
management.
A Request for Proposals will be available
soon and requests for the application can
be sent to climate.funding@bia.gov or to
the attention of Helen Riggs, Deputy Bureau
Director, Office of Trust Services, Bureau of
Indian Affairs, 1849 C St., N.W.,
MS-4620-MIB, Washington D.C. 20240.
- 7
-------
Region 7 0 Tribal Newsletter
March 2015
Bureau of Reclamation Drought Response Program
The Bureau of Reclamation will make
funds available for tribes and state and
local governments to engage in drought
contingency planning. Grant opportunities
will be announced in late April/early May at
http://www.grants.gov
The Bureau is currently soliciting public
comment on the draft Drought Response
Program evaluation criteria. For details, see
http://www.usbr.gov/drought
If you have questions about the program,
please contact Megan Montague, the
Bureau's drought coordinator for the Pacific
Northwest Region, at 208-378-5396.
NOAA National Sea Grant Resilience Toolkit Released
Sea Grant recently launched the National
Sea Grant Resilience Toolkit - a compilation
of tools and resources that have been
developed over the years by the Sea Grant
Network to help local communities become
more resilient.
The toolkit combines more than 100 tools
and will be updated as more tools are
created.
To access the toolkit, visit http://seagrant.
noaa.gov/WhatWeDo/ResilienceToolkit.aspx
Registration Open for Water Quality Standards Academy
The EPA's Office of Science and Technology
is hosting a Water Quality Standards
Academy April 27 - May 1. The training
course will be held at the Washington Plaza
Hotel at 10 Thomas Circle, NW, Washington
DC (approximately three blocks from the
McPherson Square Metro Station).
The course is offered free of charge. However,
you must apply to attend. Please apply online
at: http://svy.mk/lCklLfs
Online registration is the preferred method.
However, you may also apply by phone
by calling the EPA WQSA Registration
Coordinator, Erin Cabral, at 508-833-6600.
APPLICATIONS ARE DUE by Friday, March 6,
2015. Please do NOT apply more than once.
Please note that because seats in the course
are very limited, EPA reserves the right to
accept applications based on a balanced
mix of participants from different types of
organizations.
Due to the large amount of material to be
covered during the course, participants
MUST be present at all times.
Your application does NOT guarantee your
attendance. You will be notified in writing as
to whether or not your application to attend
the training course has been accepted.
Please do NOT make travel arrangements
until EPA confirms your attendance in
writing.
EPA Office of Water, Clean Water Act Tribal Training
For a consolidated, centralized listing of training courses offered by EPA that will help Indian
tribes develop and implement water quality programs consistent with the Clean Water Act,
go to http://water.epa.gov/learn/training/tribaltraining
EPA National Enforcement Training Institute or NET I
Go to EPA's online training resource site for access to NETI course registration, training
products, online classrooms, and e-mail updates. Several recorded webinars are available.
http://www2.epa.gov/compliance/national-enforcement-training-institute-neti-elearning-center
8-
-------
Region 10 Tribal Newsletter
March 2015
CERF 2015 Conference: Call for Abstracts
The Coastal and Estuarine Research
Federation brings scientists and students
from around the world together to exchange
information and ideas about the science and
management of coastal ecosystems.
The CERF 23rd biennial conference,
Grand Challenges in Coastal & Estuarine
Science: Securing Our Future, is coming up
November 8-12, 2015 in Portland, OR.
The Scientific Program Committee invites
you to submit an abstract for an oral or
poster presentation for CERF 2015.
The abstract submittal deadline is
Friday, May 1 at 11:59 p.m. PST.
Learn more about the conference and
submit your abstract online at
http://www.erf.org/call-for-abstracts
The conference will have more than 100
sessions with over 1,000 presentations from
ocean and estuarine researchers around
the United States and abroad. Conference
registration will open soon.
Northwest Environmental Training Center
NWETC delivers tailored courses on current policy, standards, technology and regulations for
environmental professionals. They provide opportunities for continued education in a wide
variety of topics. Custom on-site training is offered by request both regionally and nationally.
Discounts are available for Government employees and members of other groups.
A few of the upcoming trainings include:
DATES
title*
LOCATION
Mar 9-10
Certified Erosion and Sediment Control Lead Training
Tacoma, WA
Mar 17-18
introduction to Aquatic Toxicology
Sacramento, CA
Mar 24-26
ArcGISlO: An Introduction to Environmental Applications
Olympia, WA
Mar 25-26
Wetlands Delineation
Sacramento, CA
Apr 16-17
Tribal Environmental Regulation and Jurisdiction
Blue Lake, CA
Apr 22-23
Model Toxics Control Act: An Introduction
Vancouver, WA
May 11-12
Pacific Salmonids: Ecology
Portland, OR
May 13-15
Pacific Salmonids: Spawning Habitat Restoration
Portland, OR
May 18-20
ArcGISlO: An Introduction to Environmental Applications
Seattle, WA
For a complete listing, visit https://www.nwetc.org/chronological-course-offerings
-------
Region 10 Tribal Newsletter
March 2015
Billy Frank Jr.'s Courage and Tenacity Honored
A totem pole, honoring the late
Biily Frank Jr. (1931-2014), now
stands at Wa He Lut Indian
School at Frank's Landing on the
Nisqually reservation in Washington
State.
The Salmon Totem Pole stands not far
from where Frank and others were
arrested multiple times for exercising
their treaty fishing rights in the Fish
Wars of the 1960s and 1970s.
Stand here at this historic, ancestral
place, and you're standing on ground
that was the center of efforts leading
to the 1974 federal court decision
upholding Indigenous Peoples'
inherent right to fish.
EPA Finalizes Updates to Air Standards
for Future Wood Heaters
The Environmental Protection Agency is
finalizing standards to limit the amount
of pollution that can be emitted by wood
heaters manufactured or sold in the U.S.
These standards, which were last updated
in 1983, reflect the significantly improved
technology that is now available to make a
range of models cleaner
burning and more efficient.
The final rule will provide
important health benefits
to communities across
the country and will be
phased in over a five-
year period, giving manufacturers time to
adapt their product lines to develop the best
next-generation models to meet these new
standards.
The final rule does not affect current heaters
already in use in homes today. It also does
not replace state or local requirements
governing wood heater use. Instead, it
ensures that consumers buying wood heaters
anywhere in the United States in the future
will be able to choose from cleaner-burning
models. Wood heaters, which are used
around the clock in some areas, can increase
particle pollution, or soot, to levels that
pose serious health concerns.
Particle pollution is linked to a wide range
of serious health effects, including heart
attacks, strokes and
asthma attacks. People
with heart, vascular
or lung disease, older
adults and children
are the most at risk
from particle pollution
exposure. Smoke from wood heaters also
includes volatile organic compounds, carbon
monoxide and air toxics.
The EPA's updated standards will build on
the work that states and local communities
have done to improve air quality in
these communities and are based on
significant improvements in technology. For
information, visit http://www2.epa.gov/
residential-wood-heaters
10-
-------
Region 10 Tribal Newsletter
March 2015
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Alaska Operations Office
ALASKA NEWS
Alaska Forum on the Environment 2015
The Alaska Forum 17th Anniversary was
a productive conference year. Over 1250
Total registrants attended. 858 Tribal
Representative and Tribal Leader registrants
indicated on their registration they were
using GAP dollars-wow! We would like to
say a special Thank you to all of the Tribal
Elders, Leadership, the Tribal Operations
Committee, and GAP Staff who agreed to be
presenters at this year's conference! Next
year, we will hopefully have even more of
our GAP Network sharing your wisdom, your
stories, and your brilliant work with the AFE
audience. We would also like to thank Jo
Ann Chase, and her staff at the American
Indian Environmental Office for their
participation. All 8 of the EPA Alaska Tribal
Coordinators were in attendance, and had
the chance to meet face-to-face on issues
important to Alaska Tribes. Many important
topics were discussed, and seeds were
planted for partnerships to come.
r sait> V(vfimE*r-WKuKAL amska-
irxic § re*i ' mvwam ¦„!» latum •<-.
^¦r (J, ,
7,. - .
ier' twna
an*
S IttfWf,
¦fo
fiNb
t^SBL «Mi
E
w* "spvff
, ..a \4jaS Willi
N4
-------
Region 7 0 Tribal Newsletter
March 2015
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Alaska Operations Office
ALASKA NEWS
Shellfish Poisoning Levels in Unalaska, Alaska
thru January 14, 2015
by Bruce Wright, Senior Scientist
Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association
The Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning levels
peaked in early July 2014 in Unalaska,
Alaska (mussels collected at new boat
harbor) and have been below detection
limits of 10 micrograms/100 grams since
September 2014. See the data on the web
at http://bit.ly/lzA7g4M
The summer levels were above the FDA limit
for PSP which is 80 micrograms/100 grams,
(represented by the red line on the graph on
the web site).
Melissa Good of Alaska Sea Grant will be
teaming up with APIA to conduct a larger
PSP study in the Unalaska area in 2015 and
working to refine a PSP prediction model.
The team will be conducting more PSP
testing this summer in conjunction with
deploying oceanographic equipment, a
CTD, or Conductivity-Temperature-Depth
equipment.
We will supplement the New Boat Harbor
PSP testing with additional sites including
Little Priest Rock where the highest PSP levels
were seen last summer. We will also be
testing sand lance (needle fish, candle fish,
sand eels) next summer.
With high PSP levels, sand lance may become
toxic with PSP and may be found dead on
beaches or the seabed of sandy beaches.
During the summer of 2014 we collected
several sand lance samples and three had
elevated PSP levels, a sample of dead sand
lance from Cook Inlet, another from Deering
(Kotzebue Sound) and live sand lance
collected in the Haines area.
We had many observations of dead sand
lance on beaches in Southeast Alaska, Prince
William Sound, Cook Inlet and the Aleutian
Islands, but samples were not collected. We
cannot determine the extent of PSP in sand
lance without having samples for testing!
You can help:
Please make a note of dead small schooling
fish (forage fish) found on beaches, freeze
a gallon bag of the fish, and contact Bruce
Wright at 907-222-4260 or
brucew@apiai.org
^
PSP levels will likely be different in adjacent
beaches and will change with time. Littleneck
clams usually do not reach as high of toxicity
levels as butter clams and littleneck clam
toxicity levels usually drop off quicker than
butter clams. If you harvest/consume clams
from Alaska beaches you should become
familiar with all the clam species.
Extreme caution should be taken when
consuming any clams, cockles, scallops and
mussels from Alaska's beaches. Forage fish,
such as sand lance can become toxic with
PSP too. I recommend not eating dead or
sick looking forage fish found on Alaska
beaches (and report these events to Bruce).
Shellfish harvesters should be advised that
PSP is a serious health risk when consuming
personally harvested shellfish. Crabs feeding
on toxic mussels, clams or fish (sand lance)
can accumulate PSP toxin in their digestive
system, so before cooking, remove the back
shell of the crab and clean out all the dark
soft tissues that comprise the digestive
system and crab butter.
<3 Continued
12 -
-------
Region 10 Tribal Newsletter
March 2015
Shellfish Poisoning Levels in Unalaska, Alaska
Continued
The same may be true for shrimp; the
coon-stripe shrimp sampled in the Haines
area in 2014 had elevated PSP levels in their
viscera (guts). Bivalves (clams, mussels,
oysters, scallops) sold at wholesale and
retail markets require PSP testing and are
considered safe for human consumption,
but crabs or shrimp are not regularly tested
for PSP.
The samples for this project are ail analyzed
by the Alaska Department of Environmental
Conservation Environmental Health
Laboratory using approved analytical
methods (HPLC, or high performance liquid
chromatography, or high pressure liquid
chromatography).
Data tables are on the website at
http://bit.ly/lzA7g4M. Data collection for
this project will continue until fall of 2015.
More than 1,500 people were sent this
report, but you are welcome to forward the
report to others that may be interested, or
provide their email address to me, or post
this to Facebook accounts or in newsletters
and on web sites.
Current funding for the PSP project is
provided by Alaska Recreational Shellfish
Pilot Program, the Aleutian Pribilof Islands
Association and Region 10 EPA (IGAP). Past
PSP funding also came from the North
Pacific Research Board and NOAA HAB Event
Response Program.
Sand lance inside a Coho, Predators which eat sand lance can become toxic
with Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning, according to Bruce Wright, Senior Scientist,
Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association
- 13
-------
Region 10
Tribal
Newsletter
Vol. 24 No. 3- March 2015
*
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
REGION 10 TRIBAL PROGRAM
1200 Sixth Avenue,Suite 900, ETPA-085
Seattle, WA 98101-3140
Toil-Free: 800-424-4372
Phone: 206-553-0542
Fax: 206-553-0151
^
Got News?
The Region 10 Tribal Newsletter invites
you, our readers, to submit ideas
and articles for consideration and to
share your successes and challenges.
Photographs are also welcome as
separate files in jpeg or other graphic
format. Please submit articles and
pictures to:
IDAHO, OREGON, WASHINGTON
Don Creek
fiD EPA, 805 SW Broadway, Suite 500
Portland, Oregon 97205
^0 email creek.don@epa.gov
ALASKA
Santina Gay
uC EPA, 222 W. 7th Avenue #19
Anchorage, Alaska 99513
^0 email Gay.Santina@epa.gov
EPA Region 10
Tribal Trust and Assistance Unit
Sally Thomas, Unit Manager 206-553-2102
ALASKA
Todd Bender, Tribal Coordinator 206-553-0344
Katherine Brown, Tribal Coordinator 206-553-7263
Michelle Davis, Tribal Coordinator 907-271-3434
Kristy Fry, Tribal Coordinator 206-553-1085
Santina Gay, Tribal Coordinator 907-271-3413
J.R. Herbst, Tribal Consultation Specialist 206-553-2116
Sherry Kimmons, Tribal Coordinator 907-271-6322
Mahri Lowinger, Tribal Coordinator 907-271-6334
Cathy Villa, Tribal Coordinator 907-271-1270
IDAHO, EASTERN & CENTRAL WASHINGTON,
AND EASTERN OREGON
Jim Zokan, Tribal Coordinator 208-378-5691
WESTERN & CENTRAL OREGON,
SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON
Kris Carre, Tribal Coordinator 503-326-7024
Don Creek, Tribal Liaison 503-326-5015
NORTHWEST WASHINGTON
Westley Foster, Tribal Coordinator 206-553-1604
Alan Moomaw, Tribal Coordinator 360-753-8071
Report Spills and Accidents
Note these emergency numbers to call in the event of
HAZARDOUS MATERIAL SPILLS OR ACCIDENTS.
Alaska
800-478-9300 WASHINGTON 800-258-5990
Idaho
800-632-8000 NATIONAL (EPA) 800-424-8802
Oregon
800-452-0311
------- |