Colville Confederated Tribes Reacts to Teck Cominco – EPA Agreement
Nespelem, Wash., June 2, 2006 — The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation today responded to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) settlement agreement with Teck Cominco Metals, Ltd. (TCM).
The CCT is uneasy about the settlement because it doesn’t follow EPA regulations or U.S. laws.
The Tribes and the State have not yet had time to evaluate the private contract in light of their rights and remedies under Superfund that are currently being litigated in federal court.
The CCT was consulted in settlement negotiations, but have concerns about whether the agreement is in the best interests of the people of the United States, tribal members and the environment.
“We will need to pay very close attention to how the process is implemented,” said D.R. Michel, a Colville Business Council member and chairman of the Tribes’ Natural Resource Committee. It gives Teck Cominco a tremendous amount of flexibility and we have grave concerns that it won’t protect the health and welfare of tribal resources, tribal members and other U.S. citizens.”
Under the new agreement, TCM will perform the Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study that addresses contamination and clean-up of the Upper Columbia River/Lake Roosevelt site. This model differs from U.S. clean-up regulations because it is a private contract between the U.S. government and a corporation, and could lead to limited oversight from U.S. federal, state and tribal agencies.
There is also no process in place to pay for clean up of the contamination to U.S. and tribal standards.
Today’s agreement between TCM and EPA stands in stark contrast to the CERCLA or CERCLA-alternative processes that are supposed to govern the evaluation and remediation of Superfund sites.
“Looking forward we now need to evaluate all of the policy and legal options, but the Tribes intend to do everything we can to protect the long-term health of our tribal members and resources,” Michel said.
Colville Indian Plywood & Veneer
Coulee Dam, Wash. May 12, 2006 – The managers at Colville Indian Plywood and Veneer (CIPV) have been working on two significant projects that will help the mill run more efficiently and generate more profit.
The first major project at CIPV was to rebuild the #1 boiler. This would allow the powerhouse to produce enough electricity to run the plywood plant; the project was completed in February 2005. The second major project to undergo is the installation of a Georgia Pacific (GP) style plywood lay-up glue line.
“We have the equipment, we purchased it from Louisiana Pacific at basically the cost to haul it here,” said Plant Manager Lou Toulou. “This equipment will get a more quality product out of our logs and generate less waste.”
Soon, staff will be looking for bids on expanding the existing facility in preparation of installing the equipment. If the project moves forward according to schedule, Toulou said it would take approximately 90 days to complete, and should not disrupt operations or create any down time.
By implementing this improvement to the mill, more sellable plywood will be produced (without buying more logs) and be available to sell on the market.
“Once we have this equipment installed, our plywood plant will increase in its production levels and eliminate high manufacturing costs,” continued Toulou. “We need to get started on this project as soon as possible – it’s an injustice to us all if we don’t.”
In 2003, CTEC collectively borrowed $7 million from the Tribe (CBC Resolution 2003-51 & 2003-196) to get the mill up and running with the addition of its new dryers. Only $4 million was ever used from this loan, and after payments totaling $3.5 million in 2005-2006 (CTEC Resolution 04-29) only a $500,000 balance will remain. Currently, there are approximately 170 employees at the mill, where 78% are Tribal Members. That’s approximately $8 million worth in salaries to the families here on the reservation and the nearby community. Also, in spite of growing pains since its opening, the plywood mill made a modest profit last year of approximately $260,000.
Colville Tribal
Enterprise Corporation
PO Box 5
Coulee Dam, WA 99116
(509)634-3200
Fifth Juvenile Conference to be held June 14 & 15, 2006 in Omak
The Colville Confederated Tribes is hosting “Then I Came Back: Juvenile Workshop V” on June 14 & 15, 2006 at Paschal Sherman Indian School in Omak, Washington. This will be the fifth gathering aimed at improving the way social workers, health care providers, educators, police, court personnel, policy makers and community members work to address the needs of children at risk and their families. All members of the community are invited.
At the first workshop we made a commitment to emphasize prevention and early intervention and adopt a more comprehensive and coordinated approach when working with children and their families in our social and health services as well as in the justice system. As requested, the Juvenile Task Force, a team made up of social workers, educators, policy makers, health care providers and others, continues to meet and advocate for these goals. As part of this year’s workshop, the Task Force will report on progress to date.
Ongoing community education and involvement were also recognized as essential to the success of these reforms. To this end, the workshop will include presentations on family group conferencing, education advocacy, and community involvement in our children’s daily activity.
The workshop is free. There is no pre-registration. Registration begins at 8:15 a.m. The conference runs from 8:15 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on each day. Lunch will be provided. For more information, contact Jolene Marchand, public safety liaison, 634-2406, or Val Vargas-Thomas, 634-2944.
CREDIT CORNER
THE FIVE C’S OF CREDIT
Colville Tribal Credit strives to enhance the quality of life of tribal members by supplying loan funds to qualified borrowers for consumer, real estate and business purposes. Since CTC is using tribal funds for its loan program, it is paramount that Credit only makes loans that have a reasonable chance of repayment.
When Colville Tribal Credit evaluates a loan application we are assessing the applicant’s ability to repay a loan. This evaluating process is referred to as the 5 “C’s” of Credit - capacity, capital, collateral, conditions, and character.
CAPACITY to repay is the most critical of the 5 C’s. CTC will look at the amount a potential borrower can afford to pay. A debt-to-income ratio will be determined by dividing the applicant’s total debt by current income. Applicants must meet established debt-to-income criteria to be considered for credit.
CAPITAL is items of value owned by the applicant that CTC may consider as possible sources of repayment of the loan in the event that there is a problem with repayment. From our perspective, owning property or other items of value, which could be used to repay a loan, reduces credit risk. Depending on the type of loan, we are also interested in how much of your own money you plan to invest in a purchase.
COLLATERAL is something of value that CTC may ask the borrower to commit to guarantee repayment of a loan. If a borrower is unable to repay a loan, CTC obtains ownership of the item as repayment.
CONDITIONS are anything that may affect the applicant’s ability to repay the loan (e.g. change in the economy, loss of a job, emergency medical bills). The consistency of an applicant’s employment is important in this part of the evaluation.
CHARACTER refers to how well the applicant handles financial obligations, which will establish the applicant’s ability to repay a loan. If a person has not established credit CTC will look at nontraditional credit by requesting copies of paid bills, canceled checks, ask people/organizations to whom applicant pays bills to write a letter stating how long applicant has been a customer and have bills been paid on time. CTC also takes in to consideration the length of time someone has lived at his or her current residence. Prior credit history is a significant factor in determining whether a borrower will repay a loan.
Each loan application received at Tribal Credit is analyzed taking the Five C’s of Credit into account. By using this process; we increase our opportunity for repayment of the loan. This, in turn, preserves Tribal capital invested in Tribal Credit and also provides funding for future loans to Tribal members.
TRIBAL RESOURCE CENTERS
I went to the Information Exchange Meeting in Washington, DC, May 10 - 13, 2006. This trip was funded by the Enhancement Grant we received from the Institute of Museum and Library Services for our digital catalog project for the three resource centers/libraries.
Day One
Twenty-four tribes came, a total of forty people plus seven staff members from Institute of Museum and Library Services. From as far away as Hawaii and Barrow, Haines and Kodiak, Alaska. The first day in the morning was introductions, hearing who is representing their tribes, short history of their tribe and the basic outline of their projects and how they are spending their grant. Second part of the morning and an hour in the afternoon was the mini workshop on “Outcome-based Evaluation”. This is a two-day program crunched into ninety minutes. Crash course. Excellent ideas and new ways to evaluate the respective projects. Open discussion about what other tribes are doing and the outcome of their projects and what other areas this has affected. For some it was a domino action, by doing a particular project, it created a need in another area or has created a need not thought of before. An example as in our own project, the digital software we are using can do other catalog/record of materials such as expanding into the history and archive materials.
In “Outcome-based Evaluation”, the presenter said to the group to try and picture three buckets for information: We do What, for Whom, and for What outcome? Did we achieve the outcome that is the goal of our Enhancement Grant? She then gave examples of projects and percentages of achievement and how those particular projects based their success.
Afternoon of the Day One was spent on presentations by the old timers of the Enhancement Grant. Colville Tribe was among the first group. I gave a short history of the tribe, how the libraries got started from ‘grass root’ groups in their respective communities and then the digital catalog project that is in each of our libraries. I had a great time.
Day Two
Second day started with new grant receivers’ presentations. Some great projects going on out there in Indian country. Everyone then had lunch and surprise entertainment by Fanny Barnett of Muscogee Nation. Fanny sang a beautiful song in her native language.
In the afternoon, IMLS took the group for a tour of the new Smithsonian Native American Museum. What a beautiful building and the displays were done in good taste. The Smithsonian staff had gone to the tribes being represented and asked for guidance in showing the materials. I walked my poor feet off. The displays are periodically changed and other tribal materials are then shown. From the second floor of the museum in the resource room are big widows showing the capital building. All President George Bush has to do is look out the window and see the Native American Museum and remember we are still here. The second day finally ended about 5:30.
Saturday morning, even before the birds got up, my flight out of Washington, DC was at 6:00 a.m. I got home late afternoon. I slept for ten hours. It is wonderful to meet new people and old friends and see how their projects are going and share the challenges, new directions and ideas.
Adrian Holm, Library Media Specialist
ATTENTION TRIBAL MEMBERS
Spring is here and spring clean up is under way. This is just a reminder to let you know that when you are hauling your household garbage and yard waste, you must Tarp your load. Chapter 4-13, (j) was amended on 1/12/06 Resolution 2006-029.
VIOLATIONS
(j) Failure to use a tarp when transporting waste to approved site or drop box $250.00.
Please help keep the Colville Reservation clean.
From the Solid Waste Enforcement Officer
