ITEP helping Alaskan native tribes resolve solid waste problems

There is a stark contrast between the pristine and panoramic vistas that grace Alaskan travel brochures and the reality found at the more than 200 isolated and rural native villages dotting the region's countryside.

In many of these remote villages, community dumps also double as playgrounds. Hazardous waste drums are often stored on the ground, uncovered, within easy reach of children. Unlined village dumps are solid waste havens where basic trash mingles with construction wastes, raw sewage, vehicles, appliances, hazardous wastes and animal carcasses.

But with the help of a $200,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals at Northern Arizona University is working to help Alaskan native tribes resolve some of the most difficult solid waste problems in the nation.

"The economic difficulties that affect many tribal communities throughout the U.S. are also evident in rural Alaska, but are compounded by the region's extreme weather conditions and the remoteness of these villages," said Jennifer Williams, who lives in Anchorage and manages the institute's EPA-funded solid waste training program for Alaskan native villages.

"There is a critical need to provide solid waste training and technical assistance to help these tribes meet the challenges that are threatening their health and the environment," she said.

The Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals was created in 1992 in cooperation with the EPA to support the environmental protection of Native American natural resources through training and education programs.

As the institute gained a reputation for working with tribes throughout the United States, the EPA turned to them for assistance in developing solid waste training in rural Alaska. Now in its seventh year, the institute's Alaskan Solid Waste Program has earned another year of funding from the EPA to continue addressing and helping resolve specific solid waste management issues for Alaskan native villages.

Through workshops, multi-agency partnerships and a technical assistance program, the institute works directly with Alaskan native villages to develop effective solutions for managing solid waste in rural Alaska. Residents receive information on statutes and regulations, funding resources, operations and maintenance and other related issues.

"There are very few organizations that offer solid waste training in Alaska specific to rural community needs," Williams said, adding that the institute not only provides tribes with targeted training, but also with information on relevant resources to address local environmental and human health concerns.

Inspired by its own progress, the institute is now developing a similar program for tribes within the Colorado Plateau with funding from United States Department of Agriculture.

"Our long-term goal is to build tribal technical capacity and develop regional networks that will continue to address the complex and changing environmental challenges that face tribal communities," Williams said.

For more information on this and other ITEP programs, click here.