And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: From: BIGMTLIST <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Thu, 24 Jun 1999 03:31:37 -0800 Subject: EPA >From BIGMTLIST The following is a Seattle Times article and some EPA sites relavant to the Navajo/Dineh. Many of these EPA sites have not been updated for quite awhile, but they contain interesting information and contacts. My search for these sites was spurred by an article sent in by Diane Reese entitled "Federal, state officials called lax on pollution laws." at: http://www.seattletimes.com/news/nation-world/html98/altpoll_060798.html The article appears below (for those without web access), followed by the various EPA sites. Fred Hansen, who is mentioned in the article, can be reached at: Honorable Fred Hansen Deputy Administrator U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 401 M St., SW Washington, DC 26460 A cursery read of the EPA websites leads me to believe that the EPA is more interested in the relatively small amount of pollution created by the Navajo people than it is in the gross pollution created by Peabody Western Coal Co. The EPA Enforcement website at http://es.epa.gov/oeca/ has a good article: "Compliance With Permitting Critical To Clean Air Act Goals" at-- http://es.epa.gov/oeca/ore/enfalert/psd1.html. It would appear that Peabody Coal is due for some enforcement activity. Your feedback comments can be entered into the form at: http://es.epa.gov/cgi-bin/oecamail.pl =================================== =================================== seattletimes.com Nation and World Copyright � 1998 The Seattle Times Company Posted at 10:03 p.m. PDT; Sunday, June 7, 1998 Federal, state officials called lax on pollution laws by John H. Cushman Jr. The New York Times WASHINGTON - The inspector general of the Environmental Protection Agency has documented widespread failures by federal and local officials in several states, including Washington, to police even the most basic requirements of the nation's clean-air and clean-water laws. In a series of new reports, the environmental agency's independent auditing arm found waste-water treatment plants operating with obsolete permits or with none at all, inspectors failing to visit and review factories, and states falling short of federal goals. The reports blamed both federal and state officials for the shortcomings. Investigators found that state officials failed to enforce the laws and to report violations to the federal government, but they also found that federal officials were remiss in enforcing the law and in supervising the state authorities. As part of a nationwide examination of environmental enforcement that began two years ago, the reports point to problems that are probably not isolated in the relatively few states where audits were done, senior EPA officials said. Most states may be enforcing the laws most of the time, the officials said, but the sampling probably uncovered conditions that exist to varying degrees all over the country. Fred Hansen, the EPA's deputy administrator, said in an interview that the audits showed "a troubling trend of possible deficiencies, at least in some states." In two states, Idaho and Alaska, the inspectors found that federal authorities had not issued or renewed hundreds of permits required for factories and waste-water treatment plants, often for as long as 10 years. Officials issued only a handful of permits each year as part of a policy of focusing attention on a few major sources of pollution. Very few formal enforcement actions were taken against polluters in those states when they significantly violated the terms of their outdated permits, an audit disclosed. In Washington state, where state officials had reported that only seven of the 178 major air-pollution sources were violating permits, the auditors sampled 31 locations and found 17 in violation. The state's inspections were inadequate to meet federal standards, the auditors found. In New Mexico, about half the major air-pollution sources as defined by the Clean Air Act were never inspected from 1990 to 1996. In 1995 and 1996, the state stopped reporting significant violations of air-quality regulations to the federal government as the rules required. Even after the federal agency complained and the reports resumed, the state neglected to report about a third of the violations. In 75 percent of the streams in Missouri, the state did not adopt the Clean Water Act's central goal of making the water clean enough for swimming, and ignored the federal requirement for studies to demonstrate that this 25-year-old goal was unachievable. The state sets water-quality criteria for several pollutants at lower levels than the federal government - without justification, a report said. In the reviews, investigators looked at two types of pollution: emissions into the air from operations regulated under the Clean Air Act, like factory boilers, and discharges into the water from operations regulated under the Clean Water Act, like waste-water outlets. Their goal was to determine whether inspections were being conducted, permits obeyed and violations reported according to longstanding federal regulations. As in most such audits, the inspectors did not disclose the names of most of the pollution sources they examined; they combined their findings and analyzed the patterns to describe systematic failures in enforcement. Officials said the reports raised questions about the dedication of the states to enforcing pollution laws and the capabilities of federal and state workers to keep up with the millions of specific pollution-control requirements that are intended to govern emissions from thousands of factories and treatment plants. While the pollution-control authorities who were criticized in the documents generally agreed with the reports' conclusions and promised to fix many of the problems, they appeared in some cases to be slow in adopting the changes that they had promised, the inspector general's office reported. =================================== http://search.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/tribal/fednews.htm EPA's Native American Network newsletter provides information to help interested parties stay on top of MSW management issues affecting Indian Country. It features articles on tribal waste management programs, information about important laws, tips for obtaining funding, and updates on conferences and publications. The Agency hopes the newsletter will help all of us to better work together for the preservation and protection of the environment in Indian Country. ----------------------------------- http://www.epa.gov/indian/may99up.htm AIEO UPDATE (American Indian Environmental Office) Friends, Associates and Customers of AIEO: AIEO UPDATE is published at least four times each year to keep you informed of the activities of the USEPA's American Indian Environmental Office (AIEO). We greatly encourage your input and feedback. AIEO UPDATE will be available through electronic mail and in the EPA AIEO Web Page under "What's New" and "Publications." Please contact Marlene Regelski at (202) 260-7284 or through e-mail for more information or submissions you may have. ----------------------------------- http://search.epa.gov/s97is.vts [you have to cut and paste these long URLs into the "Open Page" of your browser] http://yosemite.epa.gov:80/water/adopt.nsf/adba3debad5dee888525678b006d3a7f/ e56ed6fe7ec837dc852565360052f8b7?OpenDocument Group Name: Puerco Valley Navajo Clean Water Association Contact: Raymond Morgan Contact Address: PO Box 951 Thoreau, New Mexico 87323 Contact Phone: 505-488-5763 Activity:Watershed Alliance/Council Description:To help communities develop a clean, dependable water supply. Data Provided By: River Network Address: PO Box 8787 Portland, Oregon 97207 Phone: (503) 241-3506 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://yosemite.epa.gov:80/water/adopt.nsf/adba3debad5dee888525678b006d3a7f/ ef3c8f9059ab9e7e852565360052c31d?OpenDocument Group Name: Navajo Natural Heritage Program Contact Address: PO Box 1480 Window Rock, Arizona 86515 Contact Phone: 520-871-6472 Activity:Watershed Alliance/Council Description:Collection, management, and dissemination of information on the distribution and status of rare and/or protected plant and animal species and biotic communities on the Navajo Nation. Data Provided By: River Network Address: PO Box 8787 Portland, Oregon 97207 Phone: (503) 241-3506 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------- http://www.epa.gov/swerosps/bf/html-doc/navajo.htm United States Environmental Protection Agency Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response EPA Brownfields Pilot - Navajo Nations, AZ Publication: EPA 500-F-97-023 May 1997 Office of Outreach and Special Projects (5101) Quick Reference Fact Sheet EPA's Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is designed to empower States, communities, and other stakeholders in economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield is a site, or portion thereof, that has actual or perceived contamination and an active potential for redevelopment or reuse. Between 1995 and 1996, EPA funded 76 National and Regional Brownfields Assessment Pilots, at up to $200,000 each, to support creative two-year explorations and demonstrations of brownfields solutions. EPA is funding more than 27 Pilots in 1997. The Pilots are intended to provide EPA, States, Tribes, municipalities, and communities with useful information and strategies as they continue to seek new methods to promote a unified approach to site assessment, environmental cleanup, and redevelopment. PILOT SNAPSHOT Date of Award: September 1996 Amount: $200,000 Site Profile: The Pilot targets a10.5 acre, former timber mill site in the eastern third of the Navajo Nation BACKGROUND EPA selected the Navajo Nation for a Brownfields Pilot. The Tribe's 10-Year Forest Management Plan expired in 1992, eliminating access to tribal timber resources. The Navajo Forest Product Industries (NFPI) mill site in Navajo, New Mexico, closed in April 1995 because of the cost of using off-reservation timber and is now abandoned. There are 300 unemployed mill workers in the local tribal community of 2,293 people. Most NFPI employees were from the Tribe's Red Lake Chapter. The 10.5 acre site included a particle-board factory and millworks with machinery and maintenance shops. A site inspection has revealed clear evidence of potentially hazardous substances in the environment, including PCBs, acids, solvents, and batteries. Employment for local residents is needed to replace jobs lost from the closed mill. OBJECTIVES The Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency outlines five overall objectives: 1) identify all hazardous substances on-site or in groundwater; 2) assess public health and environmental risks; 3) educate the community about the problem; 4) develop an effective and affordable remedial design; and 5) after the two-year grant period, clean up and revitalize the NFPI industrial complex. The Navajo Nation and the local people want to lease part or all of the site facilities to a lumber milling company and recall as many of the laid off employees as possible. The logging operation can take place while the new 10-Year Forest Management Plan is being developed. ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES The Pilot is: Scoping the local community's needs and concerns, including a door-to-door outreach and education campaign conducted in the Navajo language; Assessing the site to determine the cleanup status of each component of the NFPI facility; Conducting a public tribal meeting to secure a Letter of Decision commitment by the Red Lake Chapter to lease all or part of the site to help finance remediation of NFPI facility; and Preparing a site remediation plan. CONTACTS: Lorenda Joe Acting Director Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency (520) 871-7692 Steve Simanonok U.S. EPA - Region 9 (415) 744-2358 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Visit the EPA Brownfields Website at: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields EPA United States Environmental Protection Agency (5101) Washington, DC 20460 Official Business Penalty for Private Use $300 ------------- =========================== http://www.epa.gov/owmitnet/tech.htm NPDES Permit Program - Technical Assistance Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency NATIONAL POLLUTANT DISCHARGE ELIMINATION SYSTEM (NPDES) PROGRAM Navajo Nation EPA NPDES Program P.O. Box 339 Window Rock, AZ 86515 Telephone: (520) 871-7185 or 7186 Fax: (520) 871-7599 Navajo Nation EPA (MNEPA) The Navajo Environmental Protection Commission was established in 1972. In 1995, enabling legislation made the Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency (NNEPA) a separate regulatory entity within the executive branch of the Navajo Nation government. NNEPA is charged with protecting human health, welfare, and the environment of the Navajo Nation. In April 1995, the Navajo Nation Council passed the Navajo Nation Environmental Policy Act which provides guidance for NNEPA and instills Navajo philosophy regarding the protection of Mother Earth. The mission of NNEPA is as follows: With respect to Dine values, protect, preserve, and enhance our Navajo environment for present and future generations by developing laws, implementing, and enforcing strong environmental laws; implementing, and enforcing strong environmental laws; to foster public awareness and cooperation through education. U.S EPA Region 9 (San Francisco) is the lead region working with all the NNEPA programs. Navajo NPDES Program The Navajo NPDES Program began in September 1992 with a federal grant from U.S. EPA under Section 104(b)(3) of the Clean Water Act. The mission of the Navajo NPDES Program is to �Protect public health, welfare, and the environment form discharge of pollutants into waters of the Navajo Nation and from the use and disposal of sewage sludge on Navajo lands� There are 35 NPDES permits for facilities that discharge of may discharge wastewater on the Navajo Nation. These types of facilities include: sewage treatment plants/lagoons, power plants, coal mines, oil field tank batteries, and agricultural industry. There are also several facilities on the Navajo Nation covered under NPDES general permit for storm waste discharges. Statement of Problems Presently, the Navajo Nation must rely on U.S. EPA Region 9 to issue NPDES permits, enforce permit compliance, and respond to NPDES-related incidents. Due to our geographical location, Region 9 may not be able to respond to all concerns. Numerous unpermittted NPDES activities occur on the Navajo Nation: over-flowing sewer lagoons indiscriminate dumping of septic tank waste; discharges of wastewater from oil field tank batteries; unchecked storm water runoff from both industrial and construction utility sites; as well as, unpermitted off-reservation discharges impacting the Navajo Nation. Program Goal The goal of the Navajo NPDES Program is to obtain U.S. EPA-approved authorization to operate NPDES, pretreatment, and sludge management programs. Currently, staff are working on a program Submission Package, and application for program authority. The Navajo Nation will likely be the first Indian Tribe to receive NPDES program authorization. NPDES Program A permit program that regulates the discharge of pollutants from a point source to waters of the U.S. through issuance of permits to discrete discharges of pollution. NPDES permits include effluent limits, compliance schedules, motoring and reporting requirements, and other necessary conditions. The Navajo NPDES Program currently assists USEPA Region 9 in reviewing and submitting recommendations on permit applications. Pretreatment Program The Navajo NPDES Program will regulate industrial discharges to municipal, publicly-owned treatment works (POTWs). Since industry wastes can interfere with the operation of the treatment plants or pass thought the system untreated. States, Tribes, and local authorities establish local limits to prohibit harmful discharges from industry and to establish monitoring and reporting requirements. Sludge Management Program This portion of the Navajo NPDES Program regulates the use and disposal of sewage sludge, which includes septic tank waste. Sludge can be sent to a municipal land full or surface disposal site, incinerated, or applied to land as a fertilizer. The Navajo NPDES program will be responsible for establishing quality standards for sewage sludge, and will require POTWs to establish adequate management practices. All requirements will be specified in the NPDES permits, in separate �sludge only� permits issued to the POTWs or though regulations issued by NNEPA. Accomplishments In its brief existence, the Navajo NPDES Program has accomplished the following: Submission of an eligibility (Treatment-AS-A State) application to U.S EPA. Inventory of actual and potential point source discharges on the Navajo Nation. Drafting of NPDES discharge permits for Navajo-based facilities. Development of a tribal NPDES code. Joint NNEPA-U.S. EPA compliance inspections of NPDES permitted facilities. Investigation of complaints by Navajo residents and chapters on NPDES-related incidents. For Big Mountain and other activist internet resources, visit "The Activist Page" at http://www.theofficenet.com/~redorman/welcome.html Also, for great internet tools please visit: http://www.msw.com.au/cgi-bin/msw/entry?id=1271 ******************************************** ------------------------------------------ This message was sent to you by Name: BIGMTLIST Email Address: [EMAIL PROTECTED] IP Address: office23.theofficenet.com Reprinted under the fair use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
