Tribes Training Tribes on Sustainable
Waste Management Programs

&EPA

EPA 530-F-24-002
February 2024

MATCHED TRIBES:



Confederated Saiish and Kootenai Tribes
(Mentee) and Santee Sioux Nation (Mentor)

Confederated Saiish and Kootenai Tribes
(Mentee)

The Confederated Saiish and Kootenai
Tribes (CSKT) live on the Flathead
Indian Reservation in western
Montana,1 spanning four counties, with
a patchwork of tribal and non-tribal
members. MaryRose Morigeau, CSKT Tribal Response
Program Manager, requested technical assistance on
solid waste burning ordinances and enforcement options,
including ordinance language, review, and examples of
good enforcement and outreach efforts to prevent open
dumping from occurring, While the CSKT had solid waste
codes in place, they did not have effective regulations to
implement and enforce these codes. In 2022, under EPA's
National Tribal Waste Management Peer Matching
Program, the CSKT matched with the Santee
Sioux Nation.

Santee Sioux Nation (Mentor)

The Santee Sioux Nation, situated along
the Missouri River in northern
Nebraska,2 also experienced issues
around illegal dumping. In addition to
working with their local police
department, the Santee Sioux Nation conducted public
outreach and education on pollution prevention and illegal
dumping. Page Hingst, Santee Sioux Nation Tribal
Response Program Coordinator, developed Santee Sioux
Nation's Solid Waste Codes and organized numerous
public outreach events and strategies to prevent illegal

dumping, so Page had several ideas
and examples to offer the CSKT,

Raising Awareness and
Engaging Community
Members to Develop
Practical Solutions

KEYWORDS:

Illegal Dumping

Solid Waste

Transfer Station
Waste Management

In February 2022, Page Hingst (Santee Sioux Nation) and
MaryRose Morigeau (CSKT) met to discuss CSKT's
requested needs for technical assistance, CSKT sought
effective strategies to prevent illegal dumping and Santee
Sioux Nation had the practical experience and expertise to
offer tangible solutions, Through conducting outreach with
the Santee Sioux Nation, Page learned that many tribal
members were not aware of the negative impacts of
littering, Through a survey, Page found three key reasons
people were dumping illegally: (1) the operating hours of
the transfer station were inconvenient; (2) the transfer
station was charging a fee; and (3) starting landfills
anywhere on the land was an ingrained behavior passed
down from several generations of tribal members.

It is a choice that needs to be mode
ft is a lesson thai needs to be learned.
It is a value that needs to be instilled.

It is a culture that needs lo be protected.
For it is our Reservation. Our Home!
Stop itleQal dumping.

Do your part to keep our Reservation clean!

Call Utilities at (402 ) 857-2302 to schedule a FREE
Pkk-upl No item too big or too small' We will come
and get Ai Contact in m«ead o* polluting our land!

Illegal dumping poster shared by Santee Sioux Nation.

https://csktribes.ora/

http://www.nativepartnership.ora/site/PaaeSe rver?paaename=
PWNA Native Reservations SanteeSioux

Tribes Training Tribes on Sustainable Waste Management Programs ! 1


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To ease the burden of individual trips to the transfer
station, the Santee Sioux Nation began paying utility
companies to do a free trash pickup every other Friday,
which has been successful for almost four years. To
discourage littering and illegal dumping, the Santee
Sioux Nation found effective strategies to educate
tribal members on the negative impacts of littering,
including how long it takes for different materials to
decompose, Based on their success, Page encouraged
the CSKT to conduct a survey to find out why people are
dumping illegally.

WHERE YOUR
WASTE GOES:

A WASTE MANAGEMENT GUIDE

What to do with:

•	Recyclables

•	Yard waste and food scraps

•	Tires

•	Appliances

•	Furniture

•	Cars

•	Ink jet cartridges

•	Car batteries

•	Motor oil

•	Household hazardous waste and

•	Electronic waste

Waste management brochure shared by Santee Sioux Nation.

The Santee Sioux Nation offered several public outreach
strategies and examples for the CSKT to consider. The
Santee Sioux Nation shared example codes; illegal
dumping brochures, posters, flyers, and signs; public
outreach materials on littering, waste management, and
composting; a solid waste roadmap; presentation slides
for community and kid education events; and various other
templates and examples for the CSKT to use.

CONTACTS

Tonya Barnett, Co-Team Leader

EPA Office of Resource Conservation and
Recovery/Federal, State and Tribal
Programs Branch/Tribal Program Team
Barnett.Tonva@epa.gov
(202) 566-0463

Page Hingst, Tribal Response Program
Coordinator

Santee Sioux Nation
page.hingst@santeeoep.com
(402) 857-3347

MaryRose Morigeau, Tribal Response
Program Manager

Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes

marvrose.morigeau@cskt.org

(406) 883-2888

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