3
&z Perce express
comcermi weir river toxins
FEBRUARY 1, 2000
N
LEWISTON, ID (AP) Fish are not the only
creatures that can be affected when Potlatch
Corp.'s wastewater is released at the confluence of
the Clearwater and Snake rivers.
People who eat fish taken from the rivers could
be digesting chemicals used in the process of mak
ing pulp and paper and tribal officials are con
cerned. The Environmental Protection Agency is charged
with setting limits on chemicals that can enter the
river and possibly humans and those limits
are included in Potlatch's draft permit. Alan Prouty,
Potlatch director of environmental engineering,
says the limits in the draft permit already are be
ing met by the company.
But the limits were formulated using outdated
and inaccurate figures about fish consumption, Nez
Perce tribal officials contend.
"The fish consumption rate doesn't consider tribal
health," said Rick Eichstaedt of the tribe's water
resources division. "The EPA is responsible for
protecting the most vulnerable portion of the popu
lation and that is the population which eats fish."
The limits are based on a complicated risk as
sessment formula that involves the rate at which
the chemicals are absorbed by fish, the potential
effect on human health and how much fish is eaten
by the human population. Tribal fish consump
tion is much higher than the fish consumption rate
used by the Environmental Protection Agency,
Eichstaedt says.
The Environmental Protection Agency's fish con
sumption number used to develop human health
criteria is 6.5 grams of fish per day, about five
pounds a year. But an agency-funded study con
ducted by the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish
Commission released in 1994 found members of
the four Columbia River tribes the Nez Perce,
Yakama, Warm Springs and Umatilla consume
10 times that much.
The survey showed tribal members consumed
about three times as much anadromous fish as
resident fish. Salmon was the fish most often eaten,
followed by trout, lamprey and smelt.
The agency must also consider the detection
level of dioxin, a cancer-causing chemical consid
ered to be the most dangerous by-product of the
pulp and paper bleaching process.
And there is another angle on the fish consump
tion rate. Both the EPA and the Idaho Division of
Environmental Quality contend the Environmen
tal Protection Agency must change the fish con
sumption number.
But Jim Bellatty of the state Division of Envi
ronmental Quality said those changes are up to
the federal agency.
Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee Chair
man Samuel N. Penney sent a letter to the Envi
ronmental Protection Agency with concerns about
the fish consumption rate in 1998.
"To ensure the protection of our treaty resources
as well as the health of tribal members, EPA must
consider a fish consumption rate that more accu
rately reflects tribal fish consumption," Penney
wrote.
Eichstaedt said both agencies need to address
fish consumption.
"It's definitely something we're going to address
in the comment period and in talking with the EPA.
This somehow needs to be addressed in either a
change in EPA rules or Idaho's water quality stan
dards," he said.
Governor honors scholarship donor
By Brent Merrill
Portland resident Jean Vollum was recently
honored by Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber
as the 1999 Scholarship Donor of the Year.
Vollum is the chair of her late husband's
(Howard Vollum) scholarship fund at the Or
egon Community Foundation.
According to Gene Evans, of the Student As
sistance Commission in Eugene, the Howard
Vollum Scholarship Fund has granted more than
$800,000 in educational scholarships to Portland
area Native Americans and funded $1.4 million
in special education projects in Ashland, Eugene
and Portland.
Vollum was honored "for her extraordinary
efforts in establishing and guiding one of the
state's major educational funds dedicated to
helping Native Americans," said Patricia
Adworth. Adworth is the executive director of
the state's Student Assistance Commission.
The late Howard Vollum co-founded Tektronix
one of Oregon's largest technology companies.
According to Jean Vollum, he wanted to see
people pursue science, math, engineering and
educational opportunities at the college level.
Jean Vollum also contributes to both public
and private colleges in the Portland area.
The Student Assistance Commission was cre
ated by the state legislature in 1959 and ad
' ministers a variety of state, federal and privately
funded educational benefits aimed at college
bound students.
ft
,4, ; V
-I
f I
i 1 h j '1 vt
w.;,..rt . . M s . f h
Jean Vollum (with Governor Kitzhaber) chairs the scholarship fund named for her late husband,
Howard Vollum. The fund has granted more than $800,000 in scholarships to Native Americans.
4:00 p.m. Meeting called to order by Kathryn
Harrison, Tribal Council Chair. With Butch La
Bonte (arriving late), a full Council was present.
Bob Mercier moved, Reynold Leno seconded to
approve the previous December 15, 1999 Tribal
Council meeting minutes as submitted. Motion
carried.
TRIBAL GOVERNMENT, MANAGEMENT,
& BUDGET SUBCOMMITTEE
B CTGR Trucking, LLC Short-Term Loan
resolution. Reynold Leno moved, June Sell
Sherer seconded to adopt Resolution No. 154
99 approving a short-term loan for CTGR Truck
ing, LLC in the amount of $50,000 from the Tribe's
Economic Development Fund for shareholder con
tribution. Motion carried 8-0-0.
D Emergency Enrollment Determination
resolution. Bob Haller moved, Reynold Leno sec
onded to adopt Resolution No. 155-99 to approve
Helen Giovanna Tonso for enrollment under the
emergency determination clause of the Enrollment
Ordinance. In addition, it is recommended that
Helen Giovanna Tonso be listed opposite 4933
on the official membership roll. Motion carried 8-0-0.
B Chartering of Playworld, Inc. resolu
tion. Val Grout moved, Butch LaBonte seconded
to adopt Resolution No. 156-99 authorizing the
following actions:
1) Chartering Playworld, Inc. ("Playworld"), as a
corporation existing under the laws of the Tribe,
as governed by Articles of Incorporation that state
(a) the Tribe shall be the sole owner of Playworld,
(b) that all capital stock in Playworld shall be reg
istered in the name of the Tribe,
(c) that no transfer of any interest in Playworld
shall be made or effective without the prior ap
proval of the Tribal Council by resolution, and;
2) Extending sovereign immunity to Playworld
and authority to Playworld to waive same as to
Playworld's own transactions and dealings.
Motion carried 8-0-0.
B Capitalization of Playworld, Inc. reso
lution. June Sell-Sherer moved, Ed Larsen sec
onded to adopt Resolution No. 157-99 authoriz
ing the following actions:
1) Allocating $75,000 of the Tribe's Economic De
velopment Fund for shareholder contribution to
the Playworld, and;
2) Authorizing Tribal Council officers to take such
action as is necessary to cause the Tribe to make
said shareholder contribution to the company.
Motion carried 8-0-0.
B Extend Line of Credit with Commerce
Bank resolution. Ed Larsen moved, Reynold
Leno seconded to adopt Resolution No. 158-99
to approve extending the line of credit with Com
merce Bank to July 31, 2000 and authorized the
Tribal Council Chairperson to execute one or more
extensions through December 31, 2000. Motion
carried 8-0-0.
B CY 2000 Operating Budget Approval
resolution. Ed Larsen moved, Bob Mercier sec
onded to adopt Resolution No. 159-99 to approve
the CY 2000 Operating Budget for the Tribe.
Motion carried 8-0-0.
r
(gUGQfiftKl