November 2011 CUJ - Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian ...

Louie DickContinued from Page 2Program, Dick had a “special skill in communicatingtraditional values, such as Indian Law (Tamunwit)and First Foods to both Indian and non-Indian people.For Indians, his actions strongly influenced the FirstFoods-based Department of Natural Resources missionstatements and program actions that are implementedtoday. For non-Indians, his knack for telling stories andgiving examples greatly increased their understandingand respect of Indian ways and values.”John Barkley, who also reveres water, said Dick wasan inspiration.“He brought a significant traditional perspective thatreflected a reverence and humility to use and managewater with diligence and sensitivity for all creaturesof life,” Barkley said. “I respected hiswords, compassion and devotion to thissacred resource and will truly miss him.”Dick was respected everywhere hewent and not just for his stance on water.Longtime friend Ron Pond said agood example of the people’s respectwas when Chief Raymond Burke, beforehe died, asked the community who theythought should serve as a chief. Thenames of Dick and Pond were amongfour put up for consideration.Two others sought chieftainships andDick and Pond took it no further.Dick also was chosen to take a whipman’s role but the elder who recommendedhim, Winnie Burke, passedaway and out of respect Dick didn’t takethe position.“That goes to show that people hadrespect for him and his family background– being from a warrior’s family,the Red Elks on his mother’s side and the Squeoch’sfamily on his father’s side.”Marcus Luke knew Dick from the Longhouse andrespected his ways.“He always expressed traditional values at theLonghouse in our language, which is needed today.To some he was stern, but ones who had traditionalteachings understood.”People understood Dick’s vision for a sustainable,healthy world. He expressed it in many ways, notthe least of which was in words that will live longafter his death:“Water is life. Without water there is no life.”Editor’s Note: Louie Dick’s obituary appears on page 10.Above, Louie Dick was involved in sports as a youngster. At right, he participatedfor many years in the annual Happy Canyon Pageant at the Pendleton Round-Up.Oregon Water Quality standardsContinued from Page 17Legislature on the status of human healthtoxics rulemaking, including specific informationon the use of variances.EPA’s decision this week follows therecommendation of the Oregon EnvironmentalQuality Commission, whichadopted the new water quality standardsin August. The Oregon EQC sets policybased on recommendations from theOregon (DEQ).At the urging of the Umatilla Tribes,Oregon DEQ arrived at the higher fishconsumption rate after an extensive reviewof relevant fish consumption studiesby a panel of health professionals andthrough public workshops and commentperiods that spanned several years.McLarren praised the work of theOregon DEQ and the Umatilla Tribesfor “conducting a thoughtful public dialoguewith tribal governments, citizens,municipalities, industry and others tounderstand the issues associated withincreasing the fish consumption rate usedin your water quality standards.”EPA’s approval is testament to years ofcollaborative work, Pedersen said.“EPA’s decision endorses the years ofhard work by the state and the UmatillaTribe,” Pedersen said. “The standardallows us to move forward as Oregondecides how best to reduce toxics in collaborationand in a thoughtful way toimprove water so fish are safe and thepeople who eat fish are safe.”Pedersen said that without the influenceof the Umatilla Tribes, DEQ probablywould not have pushed as hard fornew human health criteria.“Without their leadership the taskwould have been a lot harder than itwas,” he said. “I don’t think we wouldhave pushed as hard without the tribalcomponent. Through collaboration, thetribes were instrumental in what weended up getting.”It was a long struggle arriving at thenew Water Quality Standards.In August, the Oregon EQC approvedthe standards by a 4-1 margin, with ViceChair Ken Williamson saying the standards“provide greater protections forsensitive populations. As a society weneed to provide these protections. We aremoving in the right direction.”The new rules put limits on 104 toxicpollutants (48 non-carcinogens and 56carcinogens) based on studies that havedocumented that certain populations,including Native Americans, eat morefish than the general population in theUnited States, and that toxics found infish from Oregon waterways cause cancer,and effect immune, reproductive andnervous systems.Prior to its efforts to develop these newrevisions, DEQ developed and adoptedrules in 2004. DEQ based the criteria forthe 2004 rules on EPA’s recommendedcriteria at the time, which used an assumed17.5 grams (that cracker-sizeportion) for the general population perday fish consumption rate.At the time (2004) that Oregon approvedthose standards, the UmatillaTribes expressed concerns to EPA thatthe standards were not protective enoughfor high fish consumers and did not meetEPA’s guidance that local data be used tomake decisions on criteria.In 2006, DEQ, EPA and the UmatillaTribes reached an agreement to worktogether collaboratively to revise the fishconsumption rate.In what would be a five-year process, DEQbegan re-evaluating its water quality standards,holding seven workshops around the state toshare information and discuss stakeholders’views about the fish consumption rate.DEQ convened workgroups thatlooked at public health, and the fiscalimpact and implementation of newrules. Workgroups included representativesfrom industry, local governments,non-government organizations, and localgroups meeting to develop the newcriteria with the intention of lowering theallowable amount of pollutants releasedto Oregon waters while, at the same time,considering variances and other actionsthat would provide affordable optionsto those that discharge those pollutants.Meanwhile, in 2009, while stakeholderswere meeting to hash out a new fishconsumption rate, Oregon DEQ and EPAwere sued for failing to meet federalClean Water Act deadlines.Because the rulemaking process wasnot complete - data, comments and inputwas not yet available - EPA had nottaken action. A federal court orderedEPA to take action on Oregon’s existingstandards.In June 2010, EPA disapproved those2004 standards because, as agreed uponin 2006, they were not protective enoughof Oregonians based on the amount offish they are known to consume.EPA’s disapproval caused the majorityof the 2004 water quality criteria to nolonger be effective, leaving in place theprevious criteria of 6.5 grams per day thatwas adopted in the late 1980s.The new adopted rules address EPA’sdisapproval of DEQ’s 2004 criteria andobviate the need for EPA to promulgatefederal rules for Oregon.Meanwhile, the Washington Departmentof Ecology has started a processintended to prevent sources of toxicchemicals that contaminate air, water,soil and human bodies.Toward that goal, according to a newsrelease from the Washington DOE, thestate is asking for comments on a newlyreleased technical support document,which focuses on fish consumption inWashington and existing environmentaland human health information. The draftdocument is called “Fish ConsumptionRates Technical Support Document: AReview of Data and Information AboutFish Consumption in Washington.”Washington currently uses an existingfish consumption rate of 6.5 gramsper day (26 times lower than the newlyadopted Oregon rate) in its water qualitystandards.The draft document is available onDOE’s fish consumption web portal,which can be found at www.ecy.wa.gov/toxics/fish.html. The comment periodends Dec. 30, 2011.For more details on Oregon’s newstandards, see DEQ’s “human healthrulemaking” web page at http://www.deq.state.or.us/wq/standards/humanhealthrule.htmNovember 2011Confederated Umatilla Journal51