{"id":22800,"date":"2021-06-24T03:46:46","date_gmt":"2021-06-24T08:46:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/fire-water-threats-loom-as-noem-begs-biden-for-rushmore-permit\/"},"modified":"2021-06-24T03:46:46","modified_gmt":"2021-06-24T08:46:46","slug":"fire-water-threats-loom-as-noem-begs-biden-for-rushmore-permit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/fire-water-threats-loom-as-noem-begs-biden-for-rushmore-permit\/","title":{"rendered":"Fire, water threats loom as Noem begs Biden for Rushmore permit"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Indian treaty rights are one reason judge denied South Dakota governor\u2019s lawsuit to hold fireworks. She sends second letter to U.S. President despite court ruling that explained wildfire and perchlorate problems at national monument in tribes\u2019 unceded Black Hills territory. COURTESY \/ Kristi Noem<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

PIERRE \u2013 South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem caught some publicity on June 15 when she sent U.S. President Joe Biden a letter repeating her call for a fireworks display at Mount Rushmore National Memorial on the eve of the annual Independence Day holiday.<\/p>\n

Her request followed a recent court denial of her lawsuit seeking reversal of her application\u2019s rejection. In the decision, the judge explained that Indian treaty rights are one reason. He cited four others, including wildfire and drinking water pollution.<\/p>\n

Using official state letterhead stationery, Noem wrote to Biden, \u201cOur South Dakota celebration cannot go forward unless you intervene.\u201d She promoted the letter on social media channels, saying Biden \u201cshould allow South Dakotans the same freedom to celebrate America\u2019s birthday that will be afforded to him and his guests on the White House Lawn.\u201d<\/p>\n

The correspondence referred to Biden\u2019s invitation that same date to a July 4 White House Lawn fireworks show for first responders credited with pandemic relief. \u201cWe welcome you to join us by hosting your own events to honor our freedom, salute those who have been serving on the frontlines, and celebrate our progress in fighting this pandemic,\u201d a White House email told tribal, state, and local officials.<\/p>\n

Noem responded, \u00a0\u201cWhat a hypocrite. President Biden wants \u2018a summer of freedom\u2019 where we \u2018mark independence from the virus by celebrating with events across the country\u2019. Translation: Fireworks are fine at the White House, but not at Mount Rushmore.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said earlier she plans for South Dakota to appeal the June 2 ruling of Roberto A. Lange, chief judge in the Central Division of South Dakota U.S. District Court. Lange denied the mandatory preliminary injunction the governor sought in Noem v. Haaland for a National Parks Service special use permit to detonate fireworks at the monument.<\/p>\n

The judge took note of the fact that this was not Noem\u2019s first letter to Biden on the subject. The National Parks Service, or NPS, denied the application on March 11. \u00a0\u201cInstead of immediately pursuing this case, one month after the denial letter on April 13, the governor chose to write a letter to the President,\u201d he observed.<\/p>\n

On April 30, the state filed suit, nearly seven weeks, or half of the then-remaining time before the holiday, he found, saying, \u201cHere, the federal defendants point out that the state could have brought its claims sooner.\u201d The defendants\u2019 \u201cnearly impossible task of preparing for this major event in about four weeks,\u201d as they put it, included developing an environmental impact assessment.<\/p>\n

The judge explained the historical context of the lawsuit. \u201cA fireworks display at Mount Rushmore on July 3, on first blush, seems like a good way to celebrate the Independence Day weekend. This country could use a good celebration of its foundational principles of democracy, liberty, and equal protection of law, after a pandemic that has disrupted society and business and has killed nearly 600,000 United States citizens to date, after an insurrection and physical incursion of the United States Capitol while Congress was convening to certify the outcome of the presidential election, and after this nation has become so sadly divided by the politicization of so many issues, likely to include even the outcome of this case.\u201d<\/p>\n

He continued, \u201cThe United States would benefit immensely from greater unity in its efforts to continually form a more perfect union. So, a national show of unity and celebration, such as a fireworks display at Mount Rushmore for Independence Day, is appealing. However, the court must deny the requested injunctive relief in this case, he said, acknowledging, \u201cStarting in 1998, and continuing for 11 consecutive years\u2014except for in 2002 when there was an elevated fire risk\u2014, the memorial had annual fireworks displays to celebrate Independence Day.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe NPS stopped the annual fireworks display for several reasons, including that the event had become a chaotic \u2018free-for-all\u2019 with far more people attending than the memorial could handle,\u201d he said. The parking lot with 1,100 parking spaces would fill up by 9 a.m. People would arrive at as early as 6 a.m. \u201cto camp out and hang around all day.\u201d Roughly 8,000 people would crowd into the developed area, he found.<\/p>\n

\u201cOther visitors ended up in restricted areas or in positions where they could not even see the fireworks display. The number of visitors complicated emergency vehicle access, and trash accumulated both from the all-day visitors and from the fireworks themselves,\u201d he noted, adding, \u201cIn 2001, over 30,000 people flooded the memorial to watch the fireworks display.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the course of years, 18 wildfires started as a result of the fireworks display. Quick fire suppression resulted in no more than 2 acres burnt at the site. In April 2003, the NPS issued a detailed environmental assessment of Independence Day fireworks at the memorial, including an exhaustive listing of the pros and cons, as well as discussing the safer alternative of a laser light show. The judge relied on this and NPS expert testimony to describe the situation.<\/p>\n

The Black Hills is undergoing environmental changes, with a multi-year drought and the mountain pine beetle infestation killing trees and providing tinder for wildfires, the briefs state. \u201cThus, the fireworks display to commemorate the Fourth of July ceased after 2009,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

After a 10-year hiatus, Noem and the Interior Department in former U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s administration entered into a Memorandum of Agreement on May 6, 2019 \u201cto return fireworks to Mount Rushmore National Memorial in a safe and responsible manner on July 3, July 4, or July 5, beginning in the year 2020,\u201d according to court documentation.<\/p>\n

For the proposed resumption of the fireworks, the government had to invest in another \u00a0environmental assessment in April of 2020. The NPS issued a special use permit on June 15, 2020. The permit declared, \u00a0\u201cIssuance of this permit is for the current year 2020 and does not mean an automatic renewal of the event in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Federal defendants in the lawsuit to renew the permit argued that the Black Hills is in the throes of a drought; the Wildland Fire Potential Outlook issued in March characterized the conditions as exerting \u201cextreme pressure\u201d on firefighting personnel and equipment. The judge determined, \u201cThis concern cannot be dismissed\u2026 .\u201d<\/p>\n

He grouped it as a concern secondary to treaty tribe concerns, as an environmental issue \u2014 together with unacceptably high contaminants in the facility\u2019s water system. Treating them would have had to wait if the park service undertook to organize the fireworks, defendants successfully argued. \u201cThe park continues to monitor levels of perchlorates in the water and the potential for wildfire,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

The fireworks events between 1998 and 2009 were \u201cthe most probable source for perchlorate contamination,\u201d according to official findings. Perchlorate is a contaminant that can cause human thyroid dysfunction. The U.S. Geological Survey in 2011 detected high levels of perchlorate in soils, surface water, and groundwater at Mount Rushmore.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe potential exists that the levels of in drinking water could become elevated following a fireworks display, especially when considering the existing levels of perchlorate in the memorial\u2019s drinking water,\u201d the docket reflects.<\/p>\n

EPA\u2019s Drinking Water Health Advisory level for perchlorate is 15 parts per billion, or ppb, and the perchlorate levels at Mount Rushmore declined over the years of no fireworks displays \u2014 from around 29 ppb to a low of 12 ppb. After the 2020 fireworks event, the perchlorate levels in drinking water increased at some monument testing stations. At the time of permit denial in March they remained above the EPA health advisory level.<\/p>\n

(Contact Talli Nauman at talli.nauman@gmail.net<\/a>)<\/p>\n

The post Fire, water threats loom as Noem begs Biden for Rushmore permit<\/a> first appeared on Native Sun News Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Indian treaty rights are one reason judge denied South Dakota governor\u2019s lawsuit to hold fireworks. She sends second letter to U.S. President despite court ruling that explained wildfire and perchlorate problems at national monument in tribes\u2019 unceded Black Hills territory. COURTESY \/ Kristi Noem PIERRE \u2013 South Dakota Gov. Kristi <\/p>\n

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Shared by Native Sun News Today<\/a> June 24, 2021<\/p>\n

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