The Metlakatla Indian Community has the sovereign authority and responsibility to protect its natural and cultural resources and to regulate environmental programs for the lands and waters of the Annette Islands Reserve.

Tribal Policy

It is the Environmental Protection Policy of the Metlakatla Indian Community to

• protect the environment of the Annette Islands Reserve;
• to take affirmative action to restore and enhance environmental quality in areas that have been subject to degradation;
• and to allow development to take place in a manner that will prevent, to the extent reasonable, environmental degradation.

It is also a goal of the Metlakatla Indian Community to preserve the natural qualities of Annette Island by employing conservation and control measures to provide for future generations.

Federal Policy

It is the policy of the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as outlined in the 1984 EPA Policy for the Administration of Environmental Programs on Indian Reservations ("Indian Policy") to:

• recognize tribal governments as the primary parties for setting standards, making environmental policy decisions and managing programs for reservations, consistent with agency standards and regulations;
• assure that tribal concerns and interests are considered whenever EPA's actions and/or decisions may affect reservation environments; and,
• work with other federal agencies to help tribes develop and manage environmental programs for reservation lands, and to protect human health and the environment on reservations.

Need for Action

During 1998, some of the Federal agencies that operate (or formerly operated) facilities on Annette Island began to undertake cleanup activities at certain facilities and sites. These sites include fuel storage and pipeline facilities, and underground storage tanks (UST's), that could threaten environmental contamination by releases of petroleum fuels.

Regulation of cleanup and closure of UST's on Indian Reservations is a responsibility of the EPA. To clarify federal UST regulations and offer specific procedural recommendations, EPA Region 10 prepared a guidance document entitled, "Closure Guidance for Underground Storage Tanks (USTs) on Indian Lands, Region 10 EPA". It is the policy of the EPA, as stated in this guidance document, to adopt the leak reporting and cleanup standards of the state in which the Indian Lands are located as standards to be used on "Indian Lands".

Since the Metlakatla Indian Community had not adopted soil cleanup standards for the Annette Islands Reserve, and because no specific federal cleanup standards existed, the EPA would regulate the cleanup of contaminated sites on the Metlakatla Peninsula based on State of Alaska standards.

The Council of the Metlakatla Indian Community does not believe that application of State of Alaska cleanup standards to the Annette Islands Reserve would adequately protect the environment or the health of current or future inhabitants of the Island. This is based on the sensitive nature of the environment and the natural resource-dependent lifestyle of its residents,

The Council recognizes that the lands of the Annette Islands Reserve are located in areas that are ecologically sensitive, and that the quality of life for the Metlakatla Indian Community depend, to a significant degree, upon the preservation of the environmental quality of the Annette Islands Reserve.

For these reasons, and in pursuance of the Metlakatla Indian Community Environmental Protection Policy to take affirmative action to restore and enhance environmental quality in areas that have been subject to degradation ...

The Council of the Metlakatla Indian Community adopted following soil and ground water cleanup levels for petroleum contaminated sites on the Annette Islands Reserve.

Soil and Ground Water Cleanup Levels

The soil and ground water cleanup levels for petroleum contaminated sites presented in the table below were derived from a review of cleanup levels adopted or proposed by

• states within EPA Region 10, (including Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska);
• EPA Region 9 Preliminary Remediation Goals; and
• federal water quality criteria.

The level of protection proposed is based on a number of factors related to the environment and use of the Metlakatla Peninsula, including:

• the prevalence of surface waters;
• the shallow depth to ground water in muskeg ecosystems;
• the hydrologic connection between ground water and surface water;
• the presence of culturally significant species;
• residential and recreational use areas; and the commercial and subsistence use of terrestrial and freshwater, estuarine, and marine aquatic resources.

Cleanup levels for residential and industrial soils, (as well as ground water), have been accepted by the MIC. Industrial cleanup levels apply to those sites zoned or designated for industrial use. Residential cleanup levels will apply to all other sites. Cleanup levels for ground water apply at all sites where ground water is encountered.

Residential Soils

Cleanup levels for residential soils were derived from the following sources:

• Volatile Organic Compound levels are based on Washington State standards, (except benzene, which is based on Oregon State standards);
• Semi-Volatile and Non-Volatile Organic Compound levels are based on proposed Alaska standards for soils with the potential for migration to ground water, (except benzo(a)pyrene and naphthalene, which are based on Oregon State standards); and,
• TPH and lead levels are based on Washington State residential standards.

Industrial Soils

Cleanup levels for industrial soils were derived from the following sources:

• Volatile Organic Compound levels are based on EPA Region 9 Preliminary Remediation Goals (PRG's) for industrial soils;
• Semi-Volatile and Non-Volatile Organic Compound levels are based on Oregon State standards;
• TPH levels are based on a combination of Washington and Oregon level II standards; and
• lead levels are based on Washington industrial standards.

Ground Water

According to the Metlakatla Indian Community Draft Tribal Water Quality Standards,

when a distinction cannot be made among surface water, wetlands, ground water, or sediments, the applicable standards shall depend on which existing or designated use is, or could be, adversely affected. If existing or beneficial uses of more than one resource are affected, the most protective criteria shall apply.

The ground water in most areas of the Metlakatla Peninsula is not considered to be a current drinking water source. A distinction cannot be made between ground water and surface water in the muskeg ecosystem that dominates the Metlakatla Peninsula. The beneficial uses most likely to be affected by contaminants are surface water uses. For these reasons, it was considered appropriate to use surface water criteria for ground water cleanup levels. However, if ground water is a current or potential future drinking water source, or may impact surface water which is a current or potential future drinking water source, cleanup levels will required to at least meet federal drinking water standards.

Cleanup levels for ground water are based on federal toxics criteria for surface waters, which are identical to criteria in the draft tribal water quality standards. Values are based on human health criteria, and represent the maximum ambient water concentration for consumption of contaminated water and organisms. Fish consumption rates of residents are much higher than those used in calculating the federal criteria for consumption of fish and aquatic organisms (only 6.5 grams/day), the more protective human health criteria ("water & organisms") is used. Cleanup levels for lead are based on the federal chronic toxicity criteria for aquatic organisms, because there are no applicable human health criteria. Total petroleum hydrocarbon levels are based on Washington State ground water cleanup levels because there are no federal criteria.

These cleanup levels are intended to remain in effect until such time as the Metlakatla Indian Community develops site-specific cleanup levels based on ecological or human health risks, or adopts a risk-based corrective action approach for calculating site-specific cleanup levels. These cleanup levels apply only to a limited number of contaminants and only at petroleum contaminated sites. The Metlakatla Indian Community expects to adopt soil and ground water cleanup levels for all contaminated sites in the future.

For comparison, here's a link to the long table listing the cleanup levels for petroleum contaminated sites.