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Businesses potentially
responsible for Portland
Harbor Superfund cleanup
are working to limit liability
without seeking Tribal input
By Ron Karten
Smoke Signals staff writer
As the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency moves
closer to assigning respon
sibility for cleaning up the Port-,
land Harbor Superfund site in the
Grand Ronde Tribe's ceded lands,
companies responsible for the pol
lution have been busy without
Tribal input
mount
ing a public
cam
paign that
appears
aimed at reducing their potential
joint and individual costs.
Last October, 45 businesses that
are "potentially responsible" for the
cleanup who have become known as
"the Gang of 45," pitched a 21-page
white paper called "Risk Manage
ment Decisions Required" to the
EPA.
The white paper challenges the
EPA process as well as the risk as
sumptions and assessments that
have been aired in the process
of evaluating the site. The white
paper's conclusions encourage a less
rigorous and less expensive cleanup.
There have been suggestions that no
cleanup is needed at all.
Not surprising since the stakes
are high. Current industry esti
mates for the harbor's cleanup
range from $440 million to more
than $2 billion although the EPA
says those estimates might be on
the high side.
"They are kind of steering and
framing the questions before EPA
gets their hands on it," said Mi
chael Karnosh, the Grand Ronde
Tribe's Ceded Lands Program
manager and Tribal point man on
the cleanup.
The Grand Ronde Tribe has been
See HARBOR
continued on page 9
Special
report
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Photos by Michelle Alaimo
Tribal member Greg Archuleta, right, rolls a poster of the "Chinuk Wawa: As our elders teach us to speak it"
dictionary cover for Tribal Elder Dorothy Shortt during the General Council meeting in the Tribal Community
Center on Sunday, March 4. Waiting in line behind Shortt is Tribal Elder Marcella Selwyn.
Tribe fetes release off dictionary
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
The Tribe officially has a
new Chinuk Wawa dic
tionary titled "Chinuk
Wawa: As our elders teach us to
speak it."
At the Sunday March 4, Gen
eral Council meeting held in
the Tribal Community Center,
Cultural Resources Department
employees choreographed a cel
ebration that included drumming
and singing, thanks to those who
assisted in the decade-long proj
ect, honoring of Jackie "Chicha"
Whisler's family and, finally,
Chinuk Wawa bingo.
The new dictionary is almost
500 pages long and includes
about 1,000 core words and about
3,000 compound words docu
menting the Northwest Indian
trade language as it was spoken
by past and current generations
See DICTIONARY
continued on page 8
tea ft
The new Chinuk Wawa dictionary is dedicated to Tribal Elder and
Chinuk Wawa teacher Jackie Whisler, who walked on in December 2007.
Whisler's family members in attendance at the General Council meeting
received a copy of the dictionary. They included her sister, Tribal Elder
Cheryl Carl, who is shaking hands with Tribal member and Cultural
Resources Program Manager Kathy Cole after receiving her dictionary.
Whisler's other family members included, from right, granddaughter
and Tribal member Justine Colton, son and Tribal member Mike Colton,
and grandchildren and Tribal members Jade and Nick Colton.