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Whitman Awards Largest Ever Tribal Research Grant to Swinomish
Release Date: 6/5/2002
Contact Information: Dave Deegan
deegan.dave@epamail.epa.gov
(202) 564-7839
June 5, 2002
02-19
EPA Administrator Christie Whitman today awarded a $1.2 million research grant to the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community in Washington state. This is EPA’s largest competitive research grant EPA has ever awarded to a tribe.
The grant money will allow tribal researchers to study whether the Swinomish people are exposed to contaminants when they eat shellfish from traditional harvesting areas and if such exposures contribute to the high incidence of health-related problems on their reservation.
Scientists will analyze sediments, littleneck clams, Japanese oysters, Butter clams, and Dungeness crabs for several chemicals and heavy metals at 16 shellfish harvest areas.
Researchers will also investigate effective and culturally appropriate ways to communicate any identified health risks to the Swinomish community and nearby tribes who also participate in subsistence shellfish harvesting. Results of this project will help to develop measures to reduce health risks from shellfish consumption.
During her discussion today, Whitman stressed the importance of working with tribes to address environmental issues on Indian lands.
“We have all been entrusted with the stewardship of this shared planet, and it is our responsibility to leave it cleaner for our children and grandchildren. And that is why we are here today. To work together in partnership to develop solutions that work, and that are respectful of Tribal values and traditions,” Whitman told attendees at the 6th National Tribal Conference on Environmental Management in Reno, Nevada, the conference.
The research grant to the Swinomish tribe was awarded through Science to Achieve Results, an EPA program that funds research grants in numerous science and engineering disciplines through a competitive solicitation process and independent peer review. For more information on this grant visit http://es.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/grants/01/justice/basabe.html. For more information on the STAR grant program, see www.epa.gov/ncer. For more information on the subsistence lifestyle research solicitation, see http://es.epa.gov/ncer/rfa/02trib_risk.html.
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Contact: EPA/Dave Deegan 202/564-7839
Swinomish/Marty Loesch 360/466-7227
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