framework illustrations. © harris and harper, 1997

FRAMEWORK ILLUSTRATIONS

Core Understandings (This is what we know)

• A clean and intact environment is a significant andinseparable part of tribal economy, religion, andeveryday life.

· Native peoples respect and honorand the earth asa nourishing mother; all natural resources arecultural resources

· Traditional environmental knowledge and nativescience has allowed indigenous peoples to thrivefor tens of thousands of years.

© Harris and Harper, 1997

• Treaties and Trusteeship are legal federal obligations that precede recent environmental regulations.

• CANNOT generalize from one tribal nation to another - every tribe is different; this talk presents just one set of exposure factors

• Exposure scenarios are part of a larger holistic risk picture, but can be culturally relevant by themselves.

• Setting cleanup levels may require additional risk information about ecological and cultural risk.

• Using risk-based models does not necessarily mean that any amount of exposure or environmental degradation is acceptable.

• Tribally-relevant health benchmarks (regulatory) are needed.• There is a balance between maintaining confidentiality of tribal

information and having access to data for verification.

Initial Cautions About Tribal Risk Assessments

Overview of Our Driving Factors

There are primary drivers: Federal Fiduciary Trust Obligations

Treaties between Indian Nations and the US Government

There are many recent secondary drivers: Health and Environmental Protection laws

Cultural Resource Protection and Access laws


• Goal: to take advantage of every opportunity to achieve maximum benefit for tribal sovereignty, rights, people, health, values, natural and cultural resources, and a traditional way of life.

• What we Value: – Treaty rights and sovereignty– Individual and community health over time, – Equity within this generation and between generations, – Trusteeship of natural and cultural resources and landscapes,– Sustainability of ecosystems and cultures

Our Goals and Values


1. All natural resources are cultural resources. 2. Cultures and future generations are receptors or systems of receptors.3. Cultural risk is real, not just “perceived.” Cultural risk is a direct effect, not just a byproduct of human exposure or resource injury.4. In order to evaluate cumulative risks, cultural and economic risks or impacts must be evaluated within the risk assessment framework, not left as risk management considerations or weighting factors.5. Time.

• For as long as the material remains intrinsically hazardous• For as long as the impact persists in the environment or population or culture. If there is permanent loss, there is infinite impact.• Future generations are “worth” just as much as the present one.

6. Space. Definition of the boundary of the impact zone, ecosystem, eco-cultural system, or ecological or sacred landscape.


Value: Environmental Justice - equity across populations- subsistence scenarios- socio-cultural impacts

Tool: Risk Assessment- estimates exposures- determines health effects - sensitive subgroups

EJ-Based Risk Assessment- Multigeneration risk commitments- Habitat-based subsistence scenarios- Natural & Cultural resource impacts- Community-level exposures and health- Individual & Community Quality of Life

Environmental Justice and Risk Assessment


Hazard Identification- probability

- severity

Fate and Transport- contamination of media, - contamination of resources- Point and areal extent over time

HumanExposure

Human toxicity

Characterize human health risk

• Maximum exposed individual• Usually short time frame• Point concentrations• Identify sensitive subpopulations• Describe uncertainty• New EPA Guidance to Integrate and evaluate Cumulative Risks and Disproportionate Impacts

Uses exposure scenarios that reflect a land useor activity pattern, typically residential or industrial

© Harris & Harper, 1999

Characterize Riskto the Affected People andtheir Eco-cultural Systems

EcologicalExposure

CulturalExposure

Ecological toxicityand sensitivity

Cultural toxicityand sensitivity

Identify what is “At Risk”- Resources at risk

- Human systems and uses at risk- Existing Stressors

• New first step in CERCLA risk assessments

• Risk = exposure x sensitivity• There is such as thing as Cultural Exposure and Toxicity.

• Characterization of Cumulative Risks requires that all risks and impacts be included within the risk assessment framework.

Characterize ecological risk

Hazard Identification- probability

- severity

Fate and Transport- contamination of media, - contamination of resources- Point and areal extent over time

HumanExposure

Human toxicity and sensitivity

Characterize human health risk

Characterize cultural risk

Also known asAlso known asQuality of LifeQuality of Life

Expanded RiskFramework


“Public lands serve to help sustain modern Indian peoples’ way of life, cultural integrity, social cohesion, and socio-economic wel being. These lands encompass traditional Indian homelands, places, habitats, resources, ancestral remains, cultural symbols, and cultural heritage. The presence of and access for traditional use tohealthy habitats is fundamental to useable and harvestable levels of resources significant to Indian peoples as well as to healthy ecosystems.”

“modified from Eastside EIS, Appendix 1”

A healthy ethno-habitat is one that supports its natural plant and animal communities and sustains the biophysical and spiritual health of its native peoples through time. Ethno-habitats have also been called eco-cultural landscapes.

What makes a place important?


Ethno-habitats are places defined and understood by groups of people within the context of their culture. They are landscapes with culturally familiar features defined by cultural knowledge and experience.

Those ethno-habitats that are places where useable quantities of culturally significant species may be obtained often overlap with ecologically-defined areas, although the species and their number and quality are often defined differently than Euro-American taxonomic systems would define them. Larger ethno-habitats can include multiple interconnected ecosystems, discrete geographic and seasonal use areas, and access corridors all within a collective set of significant places.

Describing Ethno-habitats


Hanford ReachResources

ServicesWillow

Swallow

Salmon

Ducks & Geese

WaterQuality

Substrate

Eagle

Beaver

UndisturbedShoreline

Special ProtectionCultural itemsStoriesScavengerBirdwatchingNational symbol

Cobble Sediment

Spawning substrateNative implements

TurbidityContaminants

Eggs as foodWaterfowl huntingInterestingDroppings as nutrientsFood for predatorsVector for microbesNeed plants for food

Village sitesBurial sitesScenic; tourismAesthetically pleasingNative materialsEnv. EducationEcological corridorPhysically continguous

Human drinking waterCeremonial useRole in multi-pathway exposureIrrigationAnimal drinking waterFlow rate for spawningTemperatureContaminant loadContaminant distributionTransportationReceives runoff, discharges

Nutrition, subsistenceCeremonial useStories and educationBehavioral role modelCommercial, tribal and otherRecreation and ecotourismEndangered (some runs)Post-spawning stream nutrition

Role in water flow, linked to sedimnetation and vegetation typesNeed plant material for foodNeed plant material for damsStoriesInteresting - ecotourismReservoir for Giardia

BirdwatchingEat bugsStoriesCoyotes eat nestlingsRequire mud and nest areas

Linked habitats along migration corridorsWinter habitatsAffected by pesticides directly and by decreasing food source

Nesting areasBasket materialBark - medicineAffects water temperatureContaminant uptakeControls erosion Bank stability

What is valuable about the Reach as a whole?What keystone resources are within the Reach?How many ways is each keystone resource important?What are the links between resources?How do we select metrics and ways to measure impacts?

Structure

Human Uses

Goods

Function

Why is the Hanford Reach Important?

As contamination moves through different areas, different resources are affected,different impacts happen, and different people will be concerned.

Dependency webs help tell the whole story about what will happen if different locations are contaminated, and provide a way to organize the risk metrics.

Human exposure Environmental

Services

Commercial market

ContaminatedMedia

Recreational exposure

Commercial power; worker exposure

Salmonmigration

Traditionalvillage andsubsistence

Irrigators

ContaminatedMedia

Dredging spoils

On-Site Farm Hydropower Dam

ContaminatedMedia

Cultural use andceremonial resources

EcotoxicityEnvironmental Services

Human exposure

Tradenetworks

Ecotourism& Education

CONCEPTUAL MODEL Relational Resource/Use Webs for major contaminated areas.

Commercialfisheries


Media Concentrations of individual orcombined contaminants at Location X

Air Soil GW Sed SW Biota

3o Producers(includes humans)

2o Producers

1o Producers(herbivores)

All Plants, all parts

Eco

nom

ics &

Tra

de; C

osts

Soci

o-C

ultu

ral

Env

. Fun

ctio

ns &

Ser

vice

s

Food Web(s) (Biota & Human)Metrics = dose, health

Non-Food Web(s)Metrics = Service-Acre-Years***

Note: the non-food webs include time, andthe food webs need to as well. Both must includeindividual and community-level effects.*** Service-acre-years captures the magnitude andseverity of lost or impaired environmental andcultural uses. Standard economic analysis can becombined with the functions and services.

Dividing the Assessment into Modules

Carnivorousbirds

Carnivorousmammals

Carnivore/Insectivorebirds

Insectivorebirds

CarnivorousRept & Amphib

Omnivorousbirds

Omnivorousmammals

Insectivoremammals

Terrestrialinvertebrates

Herbivorousbirds

Herbivorousmammals

Primary Producers(Plants, plankton, etc.)

SoilSedimentAir Surface water Groundwater Biotic transport

Add

Add Add Add Add Add

Humans

White boxes = existing Bechtel terrestrial model (connecting lines omitted)

Combining human and ecological foodwebs

Trophic Level 1

Trophic Level 4

Trophic Level 3

Trophic Level 2

Human food,other uses

Habitat, feed

Caveat: dietary surveys cannot identify all the links and pathways for even a single species (Cattail):

Reeds:food storage baskets

Pollen: cakes

Roots: baked

Soil contact during collecting and preparing

Uptake from water and sediment

Decomposition and release of long-lived contaminants

Linked resources:Fishing materials,

Cedar and sage for smoking

Human exposures: Subsistence and suburban

ingestion rates;Health effects of no fish

Next season’s harvest

Economic impacts:Trade Network,

Commercial sales

Other ecological “services”:Downstream effects,

Gravel (redd) movement, Nutrient Cycling

Socio-cultural:Ceremonial food,

Education, Stories,Seasonal gatherings

Role in the ecological foodchain: Juveniles as food for other fish,

Adults eaten and scavenged

A Salmon-Specific Dependency Web

“Stressors”(Things salmon need):

Water qualityWater quantity

Spawning habitat


Typical Exposure Assessment Model - Suburban lifestyle

Groundwaterrelease

Air release

Source

Little environmental contact.Few exposure pathways.


Sleeping mats,Basket

Clothing,Shelter

TraditionalPractices

Food

People are inextricably intertwined with the environment through unique and multiple uses of resources for food, cultural, ceremonial and religious practices.

Contamination

Reeds Cooking Pot

Water


Key features of the Subsistence Scenario

• Dietary intakes modified for game, fish, plants• Media contact rates higher in some cases• Sweat lodge pathway developed• Exposure duration = 70 years (not suburban 30 yrs)• Exposure frequency reflects subsistence activities• Multi-habitat focus (river, upland, other)• Specific activities = hunting, gathering, fishing,

pasturing, aquaculture


• Modern reservation diets can be poor due to poverty, development of food gathering areas, restrictions to reservations and loss of seasonal access to food grounds, commodity food of poor nutritional quality (processed, high fat, low fiber).

• Many reservations have nutritional deficits - e.g. calcium, iron, vitamins are likely to be less than RDA on an average.

• Loss of native diets has health consequences even without contamination (e.g. omega-3-fatty acids).

• Phytoremediation shows that plant species can be very selective in mineral and organic uptakes; any species is likely to be a food, medicine, or implement.

• Nutritional quality of plants can be lower if contaminated

Other Issues about Diets and Lifestyles

Example: Evaluate the distributions of risks across population segments.

Suburban Tribal

Suburban Tribal

=x

Compare exposures(human, ecological, cultural)

Compare co-risks,sensitivities, andeco-cultural risks

S-C

Eco

Human

Suburban Tribal

Cumulative risks


• There are processes for combiningdisparate types of risks and impacts

Ranges and Co-Risk Factors

Ranges in Exposures based on Activities and/or Lifestyles

Ranges in Sensitivity based on Genetics and other factors

Suburban range

Agricultural range

Tribal range

Point of emphasis: Traditional lifestyles are not just the extreme tail of a general population exposure range, but a discrete LIFESTYLE with legal protection.

Generalpopulation

Tribalpopulation

Average adult range

Children’s range

Sensitive adult range

1. Some children’s risk assessments use anadditional 10x safety factor for children.

2. Other factors contribute to sensitivity, orthe degree of response at a given exposurelevel, such as metabolic factors, age, gender,poverty, access to health care, other exposures,underlying health conditions, and so on.

Num

ber o

f peo

ple

Num

ber o

f peo

ple

Increasing exposure

Increasing exposure


Time 1 Time 2 Time 3

Very highHigh

Medium

Low

Very highHigh

Medium

Low

Very highHigh

Medium

Low

5 acres18 acres

0 acres

0 acres

10 acres23 acres

17 acres

0 acres

0 acres 0 acres

54 acres

36 acres

Time 1 Time 2 Time 3

Very high = 4High = 3

Medium = 2Low = 1

Sum

of A

cres

x C

onc.

5 acres x 4+

18 acres x 3

Acre-years =Area under the curve

Acre-Years Applied to Groundwater Concentrations

Environmental Contamination

Ecologicalimpacts

HumanHealthimpacts

Economicimpacts

Social &Culturalimpacts

Source and Release

Vadose, Groundwater& River

Community Healthand Public Health

Affected Resources and Systems

• Return to the public health definition of health• Everything is interconnected; ripple effects


People and their Homeland

Stories, Values, Lifestyles, Treaties, Sources of Identity

Health Environment Social, Cultural Economic

Culturally-relevantexposure scenario,

Health effects selected by the tribe,

Multigeneration andpopulation effects,

Functionality

Treaty Resources,Media, Biota

Relevant species,Ecosystems and cycles, Habitats, Watersheds

TCP, Landscapes,Functions and services

Cultural resources,Cultural activities,Ceremonial uses,Social indicators,

Language,Rights and Access,

“Values”

Economic services(food, shelter, jobs,

education, etc.),Valuation of

natural resources,Costs to avoid,

mitigate or repair

Ethno-Habitats or Eco-Cultural Systems

Characterize risks to each traditional or culturalway of life and community health using

measured or predicted impacts and co-risk factors.

Aff

ecte

d E

nvir

onm

ent,

Exi

stin

g or

ori

gina

l qua

lity

Sele

ctio

n of

Met

rics

,A

sses

smen

t of r

isks

and

impa

cts


There are zero-tolerance issues, such as sovereignty and our children’s health, that may not be protected by using risk-based decision methods. These are policy decisions.– Using risk does not necessarily mean that we will allow our

children, elders, or resources to be exposed to any level of contamination.

– Risk-Benefit comparisons are fraught with misunderstanding and competing rights:

• Example: right to a Treaty-based clean native food supply versus the right to spray herbicide in a right of way to control noxious weeds.

• Example: comparison of the health and cultural benefits of eating fish to the adverse health effects of eating contaminated fish.

Cautionary note:

framework illustrations. © harris and harper, 1997

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