Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
January 22, 2004
Page 7
Oil spills from dam into Columbia River
PORTLAND (AP)- Oil con
taining a cancer-causing com
pound spilled from the trans
former of a major dam into the
Columbia River, killing fish and
leaving a rainbow-hued streak
23 miles long.
Environmentalists claim the
US. Army Corps of Engineers,
which operates The Dalles Dam,
did too little too late.
"They're trying to make it
look like a little spill - when in
fact they didn't know how big it
was," said Brent Foster, attorney
for the Columbia Rivcrkcepers.
The size of the spill, first
spotted on Thursday, Jan. 15,
had yet to be determined as of
earlier this week.
At the source of the dis
charge, officials found 185 dead
fish.
Within one day, windsurfers
spotted the translucent sheen 23
miles downstream. By Saturday,
officials reported the oil had
reached Bonneville Dam, more
than 40 miles downriver but by
then the plume was no longer
visible to the naked eye.
Matt Rabe, a spokesman for
the U.S. Army Corps of Engi
neers, said the agency must
drain the malfunctioning trans
former to see how much oil is
left in the drum - only then will
the agency be able to estimate
the size of the spill.
On Saturday the Corps said
it may be around 75 gallons. The
Environmental Protection
Agency said it could be nearer
1,000 gallons.
The broken transformer is
one of the last on the Columbia
to use oil containing polychlori
nated biphenyls, or PCBs.
Because of its cancer-causing
properties, oils containing
PCBs was banned in 1978, said
Mark Maclntyre of the Envi
ronmental Protection Agency.
But getting the toxic oil out
of the machinery is an intricate
process, said Rabe.
"It's one of the last trans
formers in our inventory to use
that," he said.
Maclntyre explained that the
oils used in transformers are
highly specialized. The ban ap
plies to new machinery only. The
failed transformer was
grandfathered in.
Rabe stressed the toxic con
tent in the oil is low - on the
order of 8 parts per million, a
level the Environmental Protec
tion Agency considers non-hazardous,
he said.
"It could have been a lot
worse," said Maclntyre. "But
the way all of our agencies look
at it is anything above zero is
too much," he said.
Once the toxin gets into the
water it enters the food chain
through fish.
In 2001, a three-year study
by the National Marine Fisher
ies Service found alarming lev
els of PCBs in Columbia River
salmon from previous spills.
The same study found that
bald eagles nesting along parts
of the Columbia River were
producing half as many young
as other eagles in Washington
and Oregon.
The Corps sent out four
cleanup crews with containment
booms and oil skimmers.
In an effort to protect wa
terfowl, Rabe said the agency
had dispatched personnel to
comb the shores.
A helicopter would also sur
vey the area.
After the Exxon Valdez spill,
thousands of birds died of hy
pothermia, after the oil impreg
nated their feathers, robbing the
plumage of its insulating abili
ties. The Audubon Society, in
league with the Columbia
Riverkeepers, sent out their own
crew.
"I low are you going to see
dead birds with helicopters?"
said Foster.
"The spin machine has a
great incentive in not finding any
dead birds." But Mark Layman,
the Washington Department of
Ecology on-scene coordinator,
said: "We are doing everything
we can to aggressively and ef
fectively respond to this spill."
Fish and Wildlife
seeking help with study
The tribal F'ish and Wildlife
On-Rcscrvation Committee is
seeking the assistance of any
and all tribal member fisher
menwomen. The assistance is needed in
conducting the food comparison
study, traditional and non-traditional
foods.
Please contact Chris Gannon,
tribal environment office, 553
2020, or Nancy Collins, IMS
sanitation, 553-4943, to give
them the following information:
Your name and contact num
ber. Name of areas you fish,
such as, mouth of the Colum
bia, Warm Springs River,
Sherars Bridge, etc.
Species of fisheels that you
catch. Amount of fish you catch
at each site. Percentage eaten,
regularly, seasonally.
This information will be for
tribal membership only. Any
types of cancer or any other ill
nesses caused by various foods
will be a comparative factor to
this study. The Fish and Wild
life On-Reservation Committee
is happy to answer questions you
may have on this study. Com
mittee meetings are the second
and fourth Wednesdays of each
month. Contact number if 553-3257.
Snow damages school roof
Native Hawaiians seek tribal recognition
By Ashley Aguilar
Spilyay Tymoo
There are many Native
American tribes in the U.S. that
are federally recognized, but
some tribes don't appear to be
on the scanner.
Hawaiian Natives have been
battling Congress for their Na
tive rights. Native Hawaiians are
trying to pass a bill known as
the Akaka bill. This will help
them succeed in becoming a
tribe recognized by the state and
the federal government.
There have been major com
plaints from the population in
Hawaii of unfairness in fund
ing. The reason for their persis
tence in pursuing the bill, since
the year 2000, is to protect hun
dreds of health, education,
housing, employment, economic
, development, arts and culture
,' programs benefiting the Native
Hawaiian communities.
Services are now at risk of
being lost by civil lawsuits claim
! ing these programs are race
; based discrimination.
! Native Hawaiians have put
forth a federal recognition bill,
and are now before Congress.
The bill is asking the U.S. to rec
ognize Hawaiians as the indig
enous people of the islands.
This bill emphasizes Hawaii's
political conditions, and would
give the Natives the opportunity
to establish their own system of
self governance. Like most of
Event opens sign-up process
HONOLULU (AP) - Native Hawaiians marked the anni
versary of the overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani on Saturday
with the kickoff of the sign-up process for a planned Native
Hawaiian government.
Quoting the queen, Office of Hawaiian Affairs chair
woman Haunani Apoliona said the purpose is "to save our
heritage" and to "chart our time for political change."
As Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona and other Hawaiian dig
nitaries led the first group to sign registration forms - part of
the process for the hoped-for federal recognition - a small
group of opponents stood next to the statue of King
Kamehameha and chanted.
"The process of Native Hawaiian self-determination will
not be without challenge and stumbles," Apoliona told a crowd
of about 100 people.
"The creation of our Native Hawaiian government will
be both a learning and a humbling experience, but one from
which we cannot turn back."
the Native Americans in the U.S.,
Native Hawaiians plan on re
ceiving the same recognition.
There are 550 Native Ameri
can and Alaskan Native tribes
already recognized by the fed
eral government, and Hawaii
wants to be included in the
count.
"Extending the federal policy
of self-determination and self
governance to Native Hawaiians
is indispensable to further the
process of reconciliation be
tween Native Hawaiians and the
United States," said Sen. Daniel
Akaka, D-Hawaii.
What this bill does for the
Hawaiian communities includes
the following:
- Affirms special 'relation
ships between the federal gov
ernment and Native Hawaiians.
- Provides for a self govern
ing entity organized by them
selves. - Provides a process for fed
eral recognition of a governing
entity, establishes an office
within the Department of the
Interior to focus on Native
Hawaiian issues and serves as a
liaison between Native Hawai
ians and the federal govern
ment. - Prevents the sale, disposi
tion, lease or encumbrance of
lands, interests in lands or other
assests of the Native Hawaiian
governing entity without the
Census to continue through February
; The Tribal Census is about
i 70 percent complete. The cen
sus enumerators are starting
again this week with the count,
as funding for continuing the
census became available.
The funding should be
enough for the enumerators to
work through February, said
Madeline Queahpama-Spino, of
tribal Vital Statistics.
She said the count may go on
after February, as the goal of
the census is to account for 100
percent of the reservation
population. The 1992 census
accounted almost met the goal,
ending with 98 percent ac
counted for.
The people who remain un
counted by the enumerators are
difficult to get in touch with for
a variety of reasons. Some are
hard to catch up with at home,
and they may not wish to be con
tacted during work hours, said
Queahpama-Spino.
Business center sponsoring new tax workshop
The Small Business Develop-
business taxes and tax benefits
workshop. The workshop will be
from 1 1 a.m. till 2 p.m. on Mon
dav, Feb. 2 at the Small Busi
ness Development Center.
The workshop will cover ba
sic organization of paperwork
to prepare for taxes, and an
open questions and answers ses
sion with Joel Jensen, certified
public accountant.
For more information or to
sign up, stop by the Small Busi
ness Development Center at
1134 Paiute St. Or call 553-3592.
Christmas stocking raffle was for a good cause
Here are the results of the
Christmas Stocking raffle.
Stocking No. 1, Allen Jones.
Stocking No. 2, Carol Craig.
Stocking No. 3, Suzy Moody.
Stocking No. 4, Barbara Jim.
Roaster: Gloria Warner. DVD
player: Isaac George. $50,
Shcilah Clements, and Donna
Smith. Safeway gift card, Alveda
Hanson. The raffle was for a
good cause, helping Priscilla
Squiemphen-Yazzie, who is still
under medical care and cannot
return to work yet.
Happy Birthday and other wishes...
Congratulations to Kandra
Laurence for making the honor
roll at Kiirrside Indian School.
VTt art proud of you.
From your family in Warm
Springs.
Thank you Kah-Nee-Ta
Board of directors, from the
staff of Spilyay Tymoo.
January 6, Happy Birthday
Walter Wolfe. January 13,
Happy Birthday Eddie
Sconawah II. January 29,
Happy Birthday James Redfox
Jr. January 30, Happy Birth
day Jay Blackwolf.
Hoping you have great days
with love from Donte, Joe,
Matt, Angie and Aaron.
consent of the Native Hawai
ian governing entity.
- Authorizes a roll for adult
Native Hawaiians who wish to
participate in the reorganization
of a Native Hawaiian govern
ment. Native Hawaiians who
wish to participate in the roll
must be at least 18 years old and
provide documentation that
they are a direct lineal descen
dant of indigenous people of
the I lawaiian Islands
Native Hawaiians have the
inherent right to self-governance
and autonomy in their internal
affairs as the indigenous people
of Hawaii.
If the Akaka bill passes in
Congress, then it would not af
fect BIA programs or any IHS
programs. ' "'
Hawaii is not trying to barge
in on the budget that the Na
tive Americans share on the
mainland, but they're trying to
preserve their rights as the in
digenous people of the island.
"The creation of our Native
Hawaiian government will be
both a learning and a humbling
experience, but one from which
we cannot turn back," said
Haunani Apoliona, Hawaiian
and a supporter of the bill.
Native Hawaiians want the
same recognition as the Natives
of America.
It's up to the U.S. to decide
whether they are to be a recog
nized tribe.
Advertise in the Spilyay.
.. 553-3274.
Snowfall this month caused
significant damage to the roof
of the Jefferson County Middle
School. Snow that was piled on
an upper area of the roof fell
to a lower area, buckling the
lower roof.
This happened on Thursday
of last week, and school was
closed on Friday, as school offi
cials wanted to make sure the
building was safe.
There was some question as
to whether the choir room was
safe, as this was a room under
neath the damaged roof area.
There was also some ques
tion as to the entrance area of
the school, said Dick Jungc, di
rector of support services for
the school district.
An engineer was brought in
from a Bend firm. The engineer
inspected the building and stud
ied the original blueprints of the
middle school. After a thorough
inspection, the engineer deter
mined that the structure of the
building in terms of strength
was not compromised, and
school opened again on Mon
day of this week.
Look who was caught. . .
Wearing her seat belt
Safety belt use can decrease fatalities and injuries between 40
and 55 percent. Ejection from a vehicle occurs 10 times more often
to passenger vehicle occupants who are unprotected and unrestrained.
This is a message from the Seat Belt Coalition.
NJ Buy Back
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475-G157
January loveotoiry
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Madras, OR 97741
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