The ultimate goal of our project is to support the Sho-Pai Tribe in developing a system for timely response to proposed mines that could impact DVIR and to do so in a way that encourages their concerns are not only heard but also addressed. This is difficult because of the sheer volume of active proposals that inundate the Tribe, and because each proposed action includes thousands of pages of environmental impact statements that need careful review.
The proposed mines that could impact the Sho-Pai fall under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), a process to encourage environmental protection and informed decision-making. NEPA requires the participation of Tribal governments and input from the general public.
NEPA is triggered when major action (such as mining) will occur on Federal lands. In Nevada, 80.1% of the land is federal, and 63% of that is Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Federal agencies expect Tribes to:
- Assist the lead agency in the NEPA process at the earliest possible time,
- Participate in the scoping process (when bureaus engage with state, local, and Tribal governments and the public to identify concerns, impacts, effects, etc.),
- Develop information and prepare an environmental analysis, and
- Make staff support available.
What this means for DVIR is they must review dozens of proposals, each with thousands of pages, at any one time. They are then supposed to provide information for each proposal concerning environmental and cultural impact. Gathering community feedback is also expected. It is not an easy reality for a small, extremely rural reservation where employees wear multiple hats and the budget is tight. While NEPA requires “opportunities for Tribal Governments to participate effectively in federal actions,” it struggles to accommodate or consider the limited resources of Tribes compared to those of the mining companies.
The grant TIFO received from the EPA will help DVIR develop a rapid-response strategy to fortify its capacity to participate in these processes. This strategy will lay a guiding framework for triaging, reviewing, and responding to proposals and establish a baseline resource repository of Traditional Environmental Knowledge (TEK), cultural resources, and critical fish and game habitat. It will support the Tribe in highlighting potential ecological impacts and environmental health impacts. It will also provide a foundation of resources for educating community members and supporting them in generating effective comments and powerful community activism. Nevada is home to 28 Tribes, many of which are even smaller and less resourced than DVIR, and we hope this will be a strategy that can be customized and replicated by Tribes facing similar challenges.
Casey and Whitney will travel to DVIR in late March to support the first workshop for the project.
Last month Brock Keller visited the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in Boston. He assisted with Dr. Marc Nascarella’s TREAT-ME (Translating Research and Environmental Assessments to Mitigate Exposure) course. This course is for clinicians and medical science students interested in understanding how environmental contamination impacts public health. In collaboration with TIFO, Dr. Nascarella is using the Kyrgyzstan project as a student case study. Brock delivered a presentation on campus to demonstrate how the environmental screening technology TIFO uses can detect heavy metals like lead and mercury in soil and consumer products. His presentation included a unique, hands-on experience for the students. They brought everyday items (dishware, makeup, spices) for testing with a handheld X-ray fluorescence (XRF) machine.
Last week, Casey Bartrem and Dr. Nascarella were in Kyrgyzstan to kick off the Environmental Health Education Program (EHEP), funded by the US Embassy in Bishkek. EHEP is a one-year project that aims to develop environmental health training materials for healthcare workers, helping them support patients living in contaminated communities to reduce their exposure to heavy metals. It is an exciting next step in our 8-year project in Batken Province.
While in Kyrgyzstan, they met with project partners, embassy officials, and other organizations working on environmental health projects in the region to help develop and disseminate the curriculum.
A New Master’s student at the University of Idaho, Marina Steiner (see “Welcome Marina” below), is joining us to work on the Aral Sea project. Marina will partner with another student at the Karakalpakstan State University to analyze historic soil and water monitoring data. To the best of our knowledge, this will be the first publicly available digital environmental database. Analysis of this data will aid us and our partners in risk assessment and guide health interventions for the most vulnerable populations in Karakalpakstan.
In early February, we piloted a new idea. We gathered with a small group of TIFO friends, who brought some friends of their own (some new to TIFO!) to enjoy a lovely meal and talk about all things TIFO. We broke bread together and enjoyed in-depth conversations about TIFO projects, challenges, and goals. We listened to questions, received valuable feedback, and celebrated the power and joy of this beautiful community we call home.
Big gratitude to Lodgepole for hosting us in their beautiful lounge space and providing incredible food and delightful service. Thank you to all who joined us. Your passion for the environment, justice, and supporting those around you is deeply felt. We plan to host more of these, the next tentatively coming at the end of March. Let us know if you are interested in joining us!
In March 2010, Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders, MSF) discovered an outbreak of acute lead poisoning in remote villages of Zamfara State, Nigeria. More than 17,000 people were poisoned, and 400 children died as a result of soil lead contamination associated with artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) activities. TIFO joined MSF and government partners to implement an environmental health response.
In the early days of the emergency response, we met Shehu Mohammed Anka, a local resident and an employee of the state environmental agency. Shehu rapidly became a leader in the project, and our success is largely due to his enormous dedication to the work, the impacted communities, and the project team. He’s become an expert at environmental assessment, lead mitigation, and safer mining practices. Shehu continues working with the impacted areas as an MSF staff member. (Note: see the article below for an update on the increasingly challenging security situation in Zamfara. Our hearts are with our dear friends and colleagues there, always.)
Shehu is pursuing a Master’s in Health Sciences from the Department of Public Health at the National Open University of Nigeria. He has been researching “Community Engagement as a Strategy for the Prevention and Control of Lead Poisoning in Zamfara State.” We’ve been working closely with Shehu to support him as he develops his research. We connected him with several TIFO network experts who provided resources on research methodologies for social science. We love connecting the dots between Shehu and our work in Nigeria, former TIFO GEMS, and other technical experts!
Shehu expects to complete his thesis this spring. We hope to be able to share his results with you all – and the scientific community. The more we can advance our understanding of successes and challenges in the efforts in Nigeria, the better prepared the world will be in preventing and responding to lead poisoning disasters.
We are grateful for Shehu’s passion for supporting the environmental health and well-being of his communities and country.
Marina has joined the team as a new Master’s student in the Water Resources Graduate Program at the University of Idaho. For her research project, she will be supporting TIFO with the Uzbekistan Aral Sea project.
Marina received her Environmental Sciences undergraduate degree with a Global Health certificate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Most recently, she worked for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, supporting the implementation of drinking water infrastructure projects in response to PFAS-contaminated groundwater. Marina is passionate about bridging the gap between human and environmental health, primarily through addressing water quality issues, and is looking forward to the opportunity to work with TIFO.
TIFO is now part of the International Network on Children’s Health, Environment and Safety (INCHES). INCHES promotes children’s environmental health through the creation of an international forum. They strive to strengthen the interdisciplinary and international nature of children’s environmental health by ensuring necessary research is conducted, the latest data is shared, and people and organizations from around the globe are connected. As a part of INCHES, TIFO will work with a network of global partners to:
- Increase understanding of and agreement on how environmental factors influence child health,
- Create a global clearinghouse of research and information on children’s environmental health,
- Educate and facilitate information exchange on the best practices and policies in children’s environmental health,
- Identify information gaps and stimulate new research, and
- Advocate for children’s environmental health in the intergovernmental arena.
- Demand for minerals sparks fear of mining abuses on Indigenous peoples’ lands. NPR.
- Applications are open for the Empowered Leader Program. Women’s Impact Alliance.
- USAID Launches New Initiative to Tackle Global Plague of Lead Poisoning. Health Policy Watch
- Lead Poisoning: Fear Grips Zamfara Communities as Aid Body Leaves. Daily Trust
- The Aral Sea used to be one of the world’s largest inland bodies of water. Now it’s disappearing. Fast Company