On August 24, 2004 TOSC personnel participated in a risk assessment workshop designed for members of the Spokane Tribe. Held in Wellpinit , WA , the workshop dealt with contamination issues surrounding the former Midnite Mine, an inactive open-pit uranium mine on the Spokane Tribe of Indians Reservation. EPA added the Midnite Mine to its National Priority List (NPL) in 2000.
Brenda Brandon, Technical Outreach Services for Native American Communities (TOSNAC) Program Coordinator was responsible for organizing the workshop which focused on risk assessment topics such as exposure pathways and human health effects and the concepts and methods of cultural and ecological risk assessment. Brenda recruited TOSC personnel from both the Western and Midwest Region Hazardous Substance Research Centers as well as members of the Spokane Tribe, EPA Region 10 community involvement staff, and Jeffery Hall, a toxicology professor from Utah State University to make presentations at the workshop. The workshop was well received by the community who gave it a very positive evaluation.
Western Region TOSC and TOSNAC plan to collaborate in early 2005 on a remedial investigation and feasibility study workshop for the Spokane Indian Tribe dealing with the Midnite Mine site.

For more information about the workshop, contact Brenda Brandon, BrendaBrandon@msn.com, 1-866-880-2296 or Michael Fernandez , Michael.Fernandez@oregonstate.edu, 541-737-4023.

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On September 21, 2004 TOSC personnel participated in a community meeting for the Willits Citizen's Advisory Committee (WCAC) in Willits , CA . The WCAC came into existence in response to cleanup activities conducted at the former Abex-Remco facility. The facility operated as an industrial machine shop from 1945 through 1995. In 1963 Remco expanded its operations to include chrome plating and continued to use the plating process until the facility ceased operation in 1995. Remco also used solvents in its daily operations. TOSC became involved with the Willits community in April 2000 and has provided the community with technical assistance in a variety of ways.

The purpose of this meeting was to provide citizens with an update on the recently released public health assessment prepared by the State of California Department of Health Services which addressed hexavalent chromium releases to ambient air. The meeting was also intended to help inform and educate concerned Willits residents about the human health risk assessment process. This education and training took place in anticipation of the Trust submitting its draft risk assessment to the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board for review this fall.

Tivo Rojas and Tracy Barreau of the Department of Health Services summarized the findings and recommendations of the public health assessment. Recommendations included evaluating the feasibility of medical monitoring/clinical evaluation for residents who may have been exposed to the air releases of hexavalent chromium between 1963 and 1995, counseling and stress support for affected residents and workers, and implementation of measures to prevent the resuspension of hexavalent chromium-contaminated dusts. Michael Fernandez, Technical Assistance Specialist with TOSC, gave an overview of the risk assessment process and how it fits within the overall cleanup process. That presentation can be viewed by clicking here. In oder to reach those community members who were not in attendance at the meeting, the meeting was also broadcast to local access cable television viewers.

For more information about the meeting, contact Michael Fernandez , Michael.Fernandez@oregonstate.edu, 541-737-4023.