Sho-Ban tribal members express concerns at Informational Meeting
FHBC Chairman Lee Juan Tendoy speaks at the Informational Meeting on March 7.
By LORI ANN EDMO
Sho-Ban News
FORT HALL — Many Shoshone-Bannock tribal members expressed their concerns at the Tribes Informational Meeting March 7 where the morning focused on the Gay Mine and the afternoon on tribal land issues.
The meeting began with Gifferd Osborne leading the flag bearers in followed by Spring Creek Singers singing a flag and victory song. Fort Hall Business Council Chairman Lee Juan Tendoy did a prayer.
FHBC members gave opening remarks. Donna Thompson, vice chair, said there were several items on the agenda encouraging people to be respectful. Ladd Edmo, now treasurer, thanked tribal members in attendance. He noted the Bureau of Indian Affairs is the trustee who has the records and not giving enough land information. Ronald Todd Appenay, sergeant at arms, encouraged those in attendance to be family oriented – when settling land issues do on your own and learn to get along. There may always be a struggle but the best way to fix is through family. He said he will always stand up for the land.
FHBC secretary Devon Boyer said need to keep an eye on the future – the new president is cutting everything. It doesn’t look bright. “Fortunately, we still have the BIA here and the land belongs to the Tribes the building is on.” They want to keep the doors open.
Nancy Eschief Murillo, FHBC member, said they wanted to provide information on the reservation – allottees own half the land and the Tribes a little more than that. She said we are in a good position with this reservation. But, today tribal members aren’t getting their lease money, don’t know what the hold up is. She said the new superintendent is Dawn Davis and the BIA needs to provide information on the land.
Dan Stone, tribal executive director, served as moderator. He said the meeting would focus on the Gay Mine – issues in the closure plan, studies developed and ways to move forward. “Need to put our heads together on how we heal forward and bring ideas to to the table,” he said.
FHBC Chairman Lee Juan Tendoy speaks at the Informational Meeting on March 7.
Kelly Wright, Environmental Waste Program manager, introduced two Region 10 EPA employees Rafi Ronquillo, community involvement coordinator and Issac Kelly, remedial project manager. In addition, Jeff Hamilton from the J.R. Simplot Co. who has served eight years on the Gay Mine project.
Susan Hanson, Tribal environmental scientist, said their role is ensure companies are protective of tribal resources. “So our job is when sampling is done, we look at the results of those and make sure that what the companies want to leave, the levels of selenium and the levels of metals in selenium that’s in the groundwater and surface water, that we can figure out a way to make that protective — to clean it up to a level that you can use these sites as your treaty and your rights say. So in the end, I mean, to sum it up, that’s what we need.” There’s a lot of contamination in these areas, she continued. “And if it means moving dirt, then we will work toward moving some dirt. But right now we are collecting.” There’s been a lot of data collected and we’re just working through the process. And as Kelly said earlier, the Superfund process is really slow,” Hanson said.
Issac Kelly did a PowerPoint presentation on the status of the Gay Mine Superfund site. He explained the Gay Mine is an inactive phosphate mine on the Fort Hall Reservation located in both Bingham and Bannock counties. Mining began in 1946 and it terminated in 1991. A total of 158 pits were mined throughout the life of Gay Mine. The mining leases encompassed approximately 8,500 acres of land all within the reservation. Of those mining leases, 4,700 acres were disturbed and 3,800 acres remained undisturbed as vegetated range land.
He showed a color-coded map of the Gay Mine site where four areas of mining took place – the North limb, east limb, South 40 and headquarters.
He explained the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980 that is informally called Superfund. It allows EPA to clean up contaminated sites and forces the parties responsible for the contamination to either perform cleanups or reimburse the government for EPA-led cleanup. It grants authority to respond to risk associated with hazardous waste. Superfund goals are to protect human health and the environment by cleaning up contaminated sites; make responsible parties pay for cleanup work; involve communities in the Superfund process and return Superfund sites to productive use.
The CERCLA process is discovery contamination, site assessment, site listing, remedial investigation, feasibility study, proposed cleanup plan, final cleanup plan, engineering design of cleanup, clean up the site, operation and maintenance then NPL (national priority list) deletion. Public participation includes holding public comment periods at key milestones and encourage community feedback.
Issac Kelly said they’re now in remedial investigation. The feasibility study determines what options are available, the proposed cleanup plan, select the remedy that includes protection of human health and environment, compliance with applicable or relevant and appropriate standards. Criteria includes long term effectiveness and performance, reduction of toxicity, mobility or volume, short-term effectiveness, implement ability and cost. It needs state acceptance and community acceptance.
He said selenium is the primary contaminant of concern. Livestock deaths are a concern as selenium accumulates to high concentrations in plants. He noted selenium ingestion has been linked to deaths of cows and sheep. Other metals associated with mining include: Cadmium, chromium, nickel, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium and zinc.
A 2010 Administrative Settlement Agreement and Order on Consent (ASAOC) with potential responsible parties J.R. Simplot and FMC exists to conduct remedial investigation and feasibility study. He said sampling of soil, surface water and plant tissue is largely complete. An outstanding issue is East Limb groundwater. An extensive soil sampling program was conducted from 2020 to 2022 sampling more than 2,600 acres of soil. The risk assessment work plan discussion is ongoing.
The final risk assessment is projected for early 2026 and interim remedial investigation report is also 2026. The interim feasibility study will be done in 2027-2028. East Limb Groundwater Remedial investigation report is 2026-2027. The East Limb groundwater feasibility study is 2028. The proposed plan for the Record of Decision (ROD) is 2029 and the Sitewide ROD is 2030. He said throughout the process there will be opportunities to evaluate for early action.
Early Action (issue being addressed to prevent contamination of surface water) regarding A-12 pit water diversion. It involves engineering evaluation/cost analysis. An action memo, EE/CA directive letter. Draft EE/CA and final EE/CA (ongoing). Public comment period and public meeting in the spring or early summer. An action memorandum. ASAOC to direct implementation of remedy. Remedy implementation next summer. He showed a map of the A-12 Pit Lake.
Issac Kelly said Superfund/CERCLA does not end – there are five-year reviews and if something doesn’t work, they try again. Public comment is a key component of CERCLA. The EPA website for the Gay Mine Superfund Site is https://www.epa.gov/superfund/gay-mine
Jeff Hamilton from J.R. Simplot explained on A12 they’re needing an easement for a pipeline from the upper pond to the outlet is the proposed plan. It’s not approved yet, but that’s what they’re looking at. “So anytime we’re doing action and it’s on your land, we’ll have to negotiate with you on what those impacts are and what that agreement looks like. So that will come in the future.”
Willow Creek Culvert — the objective is to replace the culvert with large rock bottom culvert for fish passage; protect drainage from cattle overuse and maintain passage for tribal and cattleman use. He showed a map of the proposed culvert. Hamilton said it will protect the drainage from cattle overuse. They will have to talk to landowners in those areas impacted by the remedial action. The Willow Creek project is not CERCLA it’s commitment the company made at the end of mining. The location is South 40. They will be changing the grid with a little bit steeper grade but will allow for access for cattle, hunters and others. They will do an additional cattle guard. Additional fencing is being done to tie into the existing one to keep the cows out of the wetland. However, he said there will be areas on each side for cows to access water.
Hamilton said they’re planning on doing it this summer in August do they’re not dealing with as much water, “So we’re excited to get this work going. It’s been approved. It’s on tribal land.”
Louise Dixey said they ran cattle on A12 for 45 years and they never seen one dead cow in the pit. However above A12 there was contaminated soil spread out from the shop.
Hamilton replied Dixey was right about the pit, the upper lake was maintained for cattle and not an acute problem. Concerning the shop area, he said it was a regulated project, evaluated by the EPA and they determined it was clean.
Jake Caldwell said he saw horses with selenium but didn’t see sheep or cattle with selenium poison. He believes the research was not done. He never saw a dead deer either.
Kelly Wright said they’re aware there’s selenium in the sloughs. They’ve looked at salamanders, birds and other aquatic organisms, along with Queedup Springs frogs.
Nancy Eschief-Murillo asked what type of data exists and who does the construction?
Kelly Wright said Simplot is doing the construction and Hamilton said Simplot hires a contractor.
Eschief-Murillo asked why the feasibility study is taking so long? Issac Kelly replied it is a large site – big area and that is why it’s taking so long. They want to have all the data with a long lasting solution.
Wright said they’ve been sampling for 12 years and still discussing. It took three years to get a risk assessment. They want to protect tribal assets.
Zelphia Towersap speaks.
Belma Colter expressed concern about the water and how it affects people such as in Ross Fork. Hamilton said nothing goes outside off site and it is sampled.
Nathan Small questioned why it’s taking so long. When one looks at all the processes – that’s BS. “The longer they keep those pits open, the longer they allow all of this contamination to spread. It’s because they did not clean it up in the first place,” he said. “Had they done their job in the very beginning, I don’t think we would be having all of these issues.”
He said the elk and deer don’t live in the mine, they’re all about. “They may pass through and they may stop for a little while, but they’re not there long enough to ingest all of this selenium that they’re talking about. So you’re not going to see dead animals all over the place because they don’t stick around.” “Cows have gone to the point where they’re a lot smarter than people think. They’re not going to drink poisoned water. They go to where the water is clean. So that pit — that A12 pit, it is now highly contaminated. And it is not a good idea to allow your cattle to go in there. That place was supposed to have been fenced off. It was a lot of money given to do that, but it never was fenced off. And I think I’m going to blame our tribal departments for not getting that done.”
Small’s other concern is the water in the land, “Especially when we’re talking about A12 pit and what they would like to do with it. You know, a lot of our prayers, some of the prayers this morning was talking about our water in our land. And I think that’s a good thing. Those are givers of life. That’s how you live, with water and the land. But when you come up to the Gay Mine area, that’s not what we have up there. Our water is the water that they’re talking about diverting is now going into that pit. And it’s just gathering up all of the contaminants as it gets there. It’s clean up here,” he continued. “So I think that in order to keep that water clean, and I agree with these guys about piping it down below and getting it into what, there used to be a wetland up there. And that creek finally eventually flows into the Ross Fork. That clean water needs to be utilized to make good clean ground, earth, rather than a giver of life going through a process to become deadly. That’s not what this is all about. And the same thing with the land. The whole area, when you look at it, is contaminated. By the time these guys get through their process, the contamination is probably going to double. Our water is going to be threatened even more. This should have been done 10, 15 years ago.”
He believes players in the program in the mine area preventing the clean-up from happening. EPA is saying that can’t force the companies to do it. They say it’s going to cost a lot of money. “And there is nobody willing to put that money up, especially for the people or the companies that caused all of that. And continue to try and hide behind EPA, Bureau of Land Management, and the EPA. Those are all federal governments. They have a trust responsibility to this tribe. And you’ve seen a little bit up there when they talked about the health and welfare of our people. They’re not meeting that. It needs to be done.”
He said the Gay Mine area is not good for the ground and not good for the water so the givers of life in that area is not happening. It’s disappearing. “And because of all of these problems, FMC took a lot of that ore from the gay mine. And they processed that over here. Caused a huge problem. And it’s still a problem. And it’ll never go away. Because out there, rather than clean it up, EPA says you can cover it up and it should be fine. But it’s still having issues out there with the groundwater. Still having issues with a lot of the movement of that earth out there. So from there to there, it caused a lot of problems. Now, in the heyday of the mine, everybody was happy. People were getting royalties. A lot. The company was making billions of dollars off of that. But now all of that is gone. And we have a mess. So I think it’s up to us to try and continue to put pressure on our federal governments to do their job. To do it right. To do it the way they say they are going to do it. And I think it’s incumbent upon the companies. To put their money into cleaning that place up. It’s going to cost them a lot of money. But look at how many jobs. You guys complain about jobs and stuff. There’s going to be a lot of jobs up there.”
Small said it’s been over 30 years now since the mine closed. “And it’s about time to not put another 30 years on this. Half the people in here might not even live that long. To see that the realities of what can happen. The realities of what can be done.”
He said the Gay Mine is the biggest sewer spot on the reservation – you got a sewer, you take care ofit, you fix it, you do what you need to with it to get it right. “So it’s time that we, as people, the community, not a state, the community, our people need to do something and stand up for what needs to be done.”
Leona Taylor speaks at the Informational Meeting.
Louise Dixey suggested another early action on the South 40 – look at the pit that drains into Twitchell Meadows as it’s utilized by a lot of tribal people fishing and the stream goes into Ross Fork Creek. It’s been 32 years and getting tired of waiting – some will be gone before improvement is done.
Marquette Bagley said there’s so many pits. Selenium doesn’t kill the animals and birds right away because it’s stored in the body. “We hunt and fish animals, we consume it. What are the long term and short term effects.” She said the concern is the clean up – out people are affected by it. “Our home need to protect for future generations.”
Fernanda Shay asked why the council men aren’t doing their jobs to go over to the BIA to make them do their job? Help needs to come through the bureau and the council has the authority to do it.
Devon Boyer said the people in authority need to be present.
Issac Kelly said it’s important to hear the concerns. Rafi Ronquillo thanked everyone and said success comes from the community’s input.
Eschief-Murillo said a tour needs to be done of the Gay Mine area for tribal members.
