Iowa Tribe’s New Solid Waste Program

The Funding is Now Available to Clean Up Our Tribal Lands.

The Iowa Tribe has secured funds from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to complete two solid waste projects.  These projects will focus on identifying roadside and other open dumps on Iowa Lands, characterizing these dumps to determine if any hazards exist and how they could adversely impact the environment, finalizing the Tribe’s Solid Waste Code and Solid Waste Management Plan, and finally the last phase will be to clean up the sites and transfer the refuge to a legal permitted disposal facility.
 

Please Help!

 The Iowa Tribe’s Office of Environmental Services is asking for your help with providing information on the locations of open dump sites.   This funding is very limited and may be a one time opportunity therefore; it is of great importance that we are aware of these sites so that we may take advantage of this opportunity.  The funding is not limited to roadside dumps so if your property has been dumped on or you have an active dump that you or your family uses on your private land we ask that you contact the office so that we may put you on the list to assess the site for cleanup.

Why Stop Dumping?

 
In addition to the immediate health effects posed by improper disposal of solid waste in open dumps, the pollution defaces native tribal lands, contaminates drinking water, destroys farmlands, and invites vector borne diseases. However, it is the tribe’s belief that the greatest threat from all dump sites is on the surrounding surface water and groundwater supplies.

 
When it rains surface water becomes contaminated from these dump sites and percolates into our groundwater therefore; polluting the Tribe’s drinking water source.  And as many tribal members are reliant on untreated well water for drinking these illegal dumps pose a threat to the health of our Tribal Members as well as in the surrounding communities.

These pictures on this page are just a few examples of the dumping that is occurring on our sacred Iowa Lands.  Please do your part, stop littering and dumping and start appreciating the land for its natural beauty and the valuable resources that it provides.

Please contact Dena Hartzell at the Iowa Tribe’s Office of Environmental Services if you have any information as to the location of dump sites on Iowa Lands. 

Phone: 405-547-2402 Ext. 277