By TINA ABRAMS and PRESLEY REDEYE Special to Olean Times Herald Apr 14, 2021
Fresh, clean water is the very foundation of all life. Without it, nothing — human, plant or animal — can survive.
For far too long, our neighbors both up and downstream of our Territories have turned a blind eye to the sanctity of preserving this basic human right, flagrantly dumping sewage and other pollutants into the tributaries that flow through our land in clear violation of the federal Clean Water Act.
We have tried to address this problem through the standard diplomatic channels, to no avail. The Nation can no longer stand idly by while the waters that have for centuries provided our people with life-sustaining fish and plants are poisoned.
A handful of communities in Western New York and Pennsylvania are to blame for this systematic environmental misconduct. But the worst actor in recent years has been the Village of Portville. Its wastewater treatment plant has, from 2015 to the present day, consistently discharged both storm and wastewater far in excess of the limits of its state permit into Dodge Creek at the confluence of the Allegheny River.
We call the Allegheny River “Ohi:yo’” — meaning the good or beautiful river in our language — and we must ensure the it lives up to its name in perpetuity.
The Nation recently notified Portville’s leaders of our intention to take legal action under the auspices of the Clean Water Act in response to their persistent refusal to abate these harmful discharges. Our notice of intent to file civil action gives the village 60 days to rectify this dangerous multi-year pattern of dumping.
If this situation is not rectified within that time frame, the Nation will sue for all Clean Water Act violations and seek civil penalties for any additional violations discovered in the future — including during the course of litigation. We will also seek an injunction in an effort to halt these ongoing illegal discharges.
But Portville is just the beginning. This is a warning to the communities both upstream and downstream of our Territories: The Nation intends to use every available tool in its effort to protect and preserve our waterways — an effort for which we have been laying the groundwork for many years.
Just last month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) notified the Seneca Nation that its application to be treated in the same manner as an “affected state” under the Clean Water Act had been granted, further broadening our ability to protect and restore the waterways on our land. This significant designation has been achieved by only a handful of the 574 federally-recognized American Indian and Alaska Native tribes, and is the culmination of four years of hard work by our environmental team.
It is unforgivable that in this modern era, members of vulnerable communities across the U.S. lack safe and clean drinking water — despite the fact that this is the richest country in the world. Nearly one in four Americans’ drinking water comes from a system that is either untested or contaminated by federal standards, according to a 2019 study. And the statistics are even worse for Native people, who are more likely to have trouble accessing clean water than any other group.
To pollute our natural resources — especially something as precious, life-giving and essential as clean water — is nothing short of an insult to Native populations. The Seneca take seriously their role as the Keeper of the Western Door and as a steward of the land, water and air to which we have been inexorably connected for generations. We stand ready to do whatever is necessary to assure that our people do not have to question whether their water is safe to drink, fish in or even merely touch.
As water is important to all people, we hope that communities across New York and Pennsylvania will support this important effort.
(Tina Abrams and Presley Redeye are co-chairs of the Seneca Nation Council.)
