Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma Environmental Department
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We are partnering with communities across the country to host a series of free educational sessions on the dangers of lead and how to reduce and prevent lead exposure. These sessions are based on the Lead Awareness Curriculum, and will be held in English and Spanish.
Mesquite, NM
Tuesday, July 25, 2023 11-3PM CT
More info here: https://www.epa.gov/lead/community-lead-awareness-sessions
https://apple.news/AERcIEbVDQoCqQ251GQcZ0Q
A federal appeals court on Monday denied a last-ditch effort by tribes to block construction of what's likely to be the largest lithium mine in North America on federal land in Nevada.
https://apple.news/ALDhmW7DYT6iv2N0K5JC5MQ
Water filtration systems can help Americans reduce unsafe PFAS in drinking water. But a new study says they serve as a "band-aid" to the problem.
City of Miami PRESS RELEASE:
Miami’s Mayor Calls for Citizen Comments to FERC Regarding GRDA License Request
(MIAMI, OK.) Recent developments in the ongoing process before FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) regarding the operations relicensing request by an Oklahoma state agency, GRDA (Grand River Dam Authority) for the Pensacola Dam at Grand Lake has prompted a response from Mayor Bless Parker and a call for area citizen comments to be made to FERC.
Now that GRDA has filed their version of a final license request with FERC for operations of the Pensacola Dam and specifying proposed lake levels at 745 feet, area residents have received propaganda informing them that FERC wants to potentially lower the lake’s operating level substantially and asking them to use the online comment eFile form to tell FERC how this would negatively impact their lake properties.
For example, one resident’s comment reads in part, “We are greatly concerned that some stakeholders who live upstream of the lake have continued to raise unfounded, biased interests that would threaten the ability for the rest of us to enjoy Grand Lake. Lowering the reservoir level as low as 734 feet as some stakeholders suggested would be catastrophic for Grand Lake. Not only would it put an untold number of boat docks on the ground causing even more damage plus greatly reducing the size and usable parts of the lake.”
If GRDA’s relicensing request is granted, it will be in effect for up to 50 years. The current license expires in 2025.
After reading many of the comments more recently filed to FERC, Miami Mayor Bless Parker responded. Parker’s filed comment to FERC reads, “I have noticed that there have been comments being made to FERC on both sides of this issue. The most interesting part for me and the difference I see in the comments is this…”
Parker wrote that Miami residents’ comments ask FERC to consider the consequences, destruction and devaluation flooding has on their homes, the economic impact of flooding to existing business and industry and recruitment of new business and industry, and health and safety concerns with emergency services hindered and substantial access cut off during flooding.
In contrast, Grand Lake residents’ comments ask FERC to consider the consequences of lowering the lake level on their docks and boats and express concern that lowering the lake level might devalue lake homes or affect their “playground.”
Parker wrote, “It’s an amazing contrast and two very opposite ends of the spectrum. You have one community fighting to save their community from the state government agency that is trying to destroy them and the other community that is trying to feed them to the state agency for their fun and pleasure. So, we have a state agency in the middle pitting two neighboring communities against each other for their profit. This sounds disgusting because it is disgusting. FERC is the ONLY one here with the power to do the right thing. I believe wholeheartedly FERC knows what the right thing to do is, but political pressure seems to get in the way of the right thing sometimes. I encourage you to not let this be one of those times. This small community has fought valiantly for many, many years. Not because it’s about money, power, and greed, but because it’s about people! Real people! People that only have one home and don’t want it flooded again and again. People that can’t afford their home and a lake home with a dock and boat. Should they really have to stand by and allow their homes to be flooded and destroyed so docks and boats can have fun eight Saturdays out of the year? I’m asking that you do the right thing for everyone involved. All citizens need to be represented by FERC and a decision be made that is beneficial to all parties involved.”
Built in 1940, Pensacola Dam generates 126 megawatts of hydropower to serve more than 120,000 homes across Oklahoma, including in Miami and forming the Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees, a 46,500-acre lake known for fishing, boating and high-end waterfront real estate.
The City of Miami and multiple tribes assert FERC should hold GRDA liable for flooding across roughly 13,000 acres of land in Miami and across Ottawa County.
GRDA filed their final relicense request in a years-long process which began in 2013. The City of Miami and GRDA have battled over the license and re-license in subsequent filings and responses in the relicensing process since that time. A separate proceeding, a civil lawsuit involving 446 plaintiffs, including the City of Miami, is also ongoing seeking damages from the 2007 flood devastation.
In the relicense process, the City of Miami continues to fight GRDA’s request to operate the lake at the higher levels, use prerelease to avoid flooding and backwater effects beyond natural stages, and to purchase necessary easements as agreed to in the original license. Environmental concerns over the transport of lead contaminated floodwaters and sediment are also addressed by the City of Miami and others in the relicense proceedings.
The City of Miami has used Tetra Tech hydrological studies to support these arguments which have resulted in favorable legal opinions. Following a successful appeal by the City of Miami, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, widely recognized as the second highest court in the U.S., ruled back in January of 2022 that the City of Miami provided “powerful” evidence showing the Pensacola Dam’s operations by GRDA caused flooding. In its decision, the D.C. Circuit Court found that FERC didn’t study the extensive evidence presented by the City and stated that FERC failed to address whether GRDA had acquired adequate rights to allow the flooding occurring in Miami.
Miami area residents are encouraged to file comments about how they have been impacted by flooding with FERC by mail or electronic submissions. All comments regarding the Pensacola Project should include the docket number P-1494. Mail comments to: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Debbie-Anne Reese, Deputy Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20426.
You may eFile comments on their website at FERC.gov, click on eFile, and log in, then click on eComment and fill out the form, be sure to Enter Docket Number P-1494 and enter your comment. You may also subscribe to email comments pertaining to the Pensacola Project P-1494 on FERC’s website.
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Link to register to comment: https://ferconline.ferc.gov/eRegistration.aspx...
Link to submit comments: https://ferconline.ferc.gov/QuickComment.aspx
We are so incredibly excited to be hosting an environmental activist camp this summer! Camp will be held May 22nd-23rd for Grades K-5 and May 24th-26th for Grades 6-12. Space is limited. Use this link to register today: https://shorturl.at/puPX5
“We’ve always known that our Indian Country existed,” said Ottawa Tribe Chief Ethel Cook. “And we are glad that the Oklahoma courts have finally come to terms with that fact.”
MIAMI, Okla. — When floodwaters encroach on Carol McCool’s home, she knows how to fend off snakes in her living room and remove the orange residue...
Last week, EPA Region 6 Administrator, Dr. Earthea Nance, and team visited the Tar Creek Superfund site area, meeting with the Tar Creek Trustee Council Indian Tribes comprised of the Ottawa Tribe, Miami Tribe, Wyandotte Nation, Seneca-Cayuga Nation, Eastern
Shawnee Tribe, and Peoria Tribe. The Modoc Nation and
the Shawnee Tribe were also visited.
On April 11, site visits included a water monitoring site on Tar Creek, a chat pile, a riparian/streambank area prioritized by
the Eastern Shawnee Tribe for restoration, a recycling facility,
an aquatic facility for producing fish and mussels, and places where flooding has increased in recent years.
On April 12, the RA and team met with Tar Creek Trustee Council Indian Tribes leadership and staff to review the site visits and follow-up actions. This meeting was one of the highest attended in-person meetings between EPA and elected tribal leadership in several years.
Join the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and American Indian Higher Education Consortium for a webinar about EPA's role in protecting human health and the environment! Information will also be provided regarding exciting and rewarding career opportunities in and near Indian Country throughout the US. Tribal college and university students are highly encouraged to attend!
Tuesday, April 25 from 2:00 PM - 3:30PM (ET)
Register now: https://usepa.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_ulIqNn5pToiEqOsvcVN44A
For more information or if you require ASL and language interpretation services, please contact JoAnn Brant at [email protected] or Angela Hackel at [email protected]
Leaks Can Run, but They Can't Hide
Are you ready to chase down leaks? Household leaks can waste nearly 1 trillion gallons of water annually nationwide, so each year we hunt down the drips during Fix a Leak Week.
This week, March 20 through 26, 2023 is EPA's annual Fix a Leak Week —but remember that you can find and fix leaks inside and outside your home to save valuable water and money all year long.
For more information visit https://www.epa.gov/watersense/fix-leak-week
If you become aware of an oil or chemical in your area, report it to the National Response Center at 800-424-8802. Remember, CALL 911 if you are in immediate danger or if someone is hurt. https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-incidents/how-report-spills-and-environmental-violations
Are you making the safer choice when shopping for cleaning and other household products?
Learn what’s behind the label. ⬇️
https://www.epa.gov/saferchoice
Our curious friend didn’t seem to mind the chill. He supervised our water sampling at Twin Bridges.
Deputy Environmental Director, Tabitha Langston, participated in these meetings as a member of the National Tribal Caucus. Tabitha was elected by the Tribes in our region to represent them on this national committee.
Our Deputy Director, Tabitha Langston, participated in the National Tribal Caucus with EPA senior leadership in Washington, DC this past week.
Officials with the Department of the Interior presented seven area tribes, including the Ottawa Tribe, with an Award for Tribal Excellence in Conservation for their effort in creating a Tribal Apprenticeship Program. It was the first award of its kind.
(PICTURED: Suzanne Dunn, left, with the Fish & Wildlife Service, and Amy Lueders (FWS South West Regional Director), present Ottawa Tribe Environmental Director Cheryl Stafford and Environmental Assistant Lori Bailey with the Tribal Excellence Award Thursday, Sept. 15 at the Intertribal Council building in Miami, Okla.).
The tribes accepting the award included the Cherokee Nation, Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma, Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma, Seneca-Cayuga Nation, and the Wyandotte Nation.
Over the past 20 years, the Tar Creek Trustee Council has worked together to develop claims for injuries to natural resources from hazardous substance at the Tar Creek Superfund Site in Northeastern Oklahoma. This Trustee Council is the largest in the country with representatives from the State of Oklahoma, Department of the Interior (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and Bureau of Indian Affairs), and seven federally-recognized tribes.
The seven tribes were instrumental in the development and selection of multiple restoration projects in the Tar Creek Phase I Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment (RP/EA). The Phase I RP/EA selected six restoration projects that will replace the natural resources lost from the contamination.
One unique project proposed by all seven tribes is the Tribal Apprenticeship Program. Injuries to the natural resources at the Tar Creek site have impacted tribal lifeways. The tribes have lost opportunities to transfer their cultural knowledge on gathering, harvesting, hunting, fishing, preparing, and using these resources across generations. There has also been a loss of traditional ecological knowledge about caring for the land, and traditional practices to sustain it for future generations.
The Tribal Apprenticeship Program will combine teaching tribal youth about their individual tribe’s distinct heritage, language, cultural practices, and traditional uses with natural resource restoration. Each of the seven Tribes will develop and implement a Tribal Apprenticeship Program and which will include distinct tribal lifeway practices curriculum and the traditional uses of natural resources specific to each tribe. Upon completion of the program, each student will receive a State of Oklahoma lifetime combination hunting and fishing license, which will enable graduates to continue to practice their tribe’s traditional activities after the program ends.
The development of this project and participation in all restoration planning activities takes many years of dedication. The Service recognizes the dedication and commitment to the Tar Creek Trustee Council by the Wyandotte Nation, represented by Christen Lee and Kathy Welch; Cherokee Nation, represented by Nancy John and Jason White; Easter Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, represented by Kristi Laughlin and Justin Burris; Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, represented by Heather Webb; Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma, represented by Tabitha Langston, Cheryl Stafford, and Lori Bailey; Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma, represented by Erin Barnes and Buddy Shapp; and the Seneca-Cayuga Nation represented by Sara Lundstrum and MJ Shields.
Sadly, while sampling today this is the site at Little Elm. If you know who did this or see anyone dumping please contact our office at 918-541-1902 or call the Sheriff’s office. This has to stop!
Today marks the start of ! This year's theme is . Throughout the week, we will be sharing resources and ways to help Mother Earth. 🌎
Miami, OK
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