{"id":9764,"date":"2020-02-12T21:18:59","date_gmt":"2020-02-13T02:18:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/oglala-tribal-staff-caps-water-well-with-uranium-in-it\/"},"modified":"2020-02-12T21:19:00","modified_gmt":"2020-02-13T02:19:00","slug":"oglala-tribal-staff-caps-water-well-with-uranium-in-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/oglala-tribal-staff-caps-water-well-with-uranium-in-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Oglala tribal staff caps water well with uranium in it"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/span><\/div>

\"\"<\/a>PINE RIDGE \u2013 An official statement baring forbidden levels of uranium in drinking water from an Oglala Sioux tribal well has caused turmoil, but the supply has been capped along with any problem, a field supervisor assured the Native Sun News Today on Feb. 7.
\nThe statement, dated Jan. 28, was entitled \u201cPine Ridge Water System has levels of uranium above the Drinking Water Standards.\u201d
\nIt was disseminated on letterhead from the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Water Maintenance and Conservation.
\nThe announcement led to \u201cturmoil\u201d said department Field Supervisor Richard Kamerzell. \u201cThere\u2019s been a lot of negative over that one well, but we\u2019re not even using it,\u201d he added.
\n\u201cThat well has been deactivated. It is no longer part of our system, and there\u2019s nothing to worry about,\u201d he said.
\nThe well, located near O.C.S., was an old BIA well dating to before Kamerzell began working at the department 18 years ago, he said.
\nThe tribal water department has 21 other drinking water wells. \u201cWe have increased pumping from other wells, and we are investigating a new well,\u201d the announcement explains.
\nThe department stopped using the contaminated well eight months ago in June, after monitoring showed EPA maximum contaminant levels (MCL) continually violated, it said.
\n\u201cOur main priority is providing safe drinking water to our people,\u201d Kamerzell said. \u201cOur own families drink it,\u201d he added.
\nUnder the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, the maximum allowable level of uranium radionuclides is 30 u\/gl (micrograms per liter). The closed well showed an average of 31 between the first and fourth quarter of 2019, as the department did follow-up monitoring.
\nGiven the ongoing evidence, the department pulled the pump and motor from the well on Jan. 23, Kamerzell said.
\n\u201cOur water system recently violated a drinking water standard,\u201d the announcement said. \u201cAs our customers, you have the right to know what happened, and what you should do, and what we did (are doing) to correct this situation.
\n\u201cThis is not an emergency. If it had been, you would have been notified within 24 hours,\u201d according to protocol, it said.
\nRules EPA established for uranium radionuclides in 2000 required monitoring for them at the well or other entry point to the tribal water distribution system immediately and again after one year. If found to be delivering satisfactorily below detection level, the entry point would not require monitoring for that substance for nine years.
\nIf found to be at half the maximum allowed level, monitoring would be required in six years. If over half, in three years. Finally, upon reaching the max, quarterly checks are required.
\nKamerzell said most of the reservation well water quality is the envy of other public supply systems. \u201cWe do a lot of sampling for wells to stay in compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act.
\n\u201cWe do have very high-quality water, some of the best around,\u201d he said. Like the adjacent Rosebud Indian Reservation, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation has well water devoid of many chemicals of concern elsewhere, he added.
\nHis department administers seven wells in Kyle, which tap into the Arikaree Group of water-bearing geologic formations. It operates four in White Horse Creek, five in Oglala and five in Pine Ridge, which tap into the Ogallala Aquifer, he said. They range from 200 to 500 feet deep.
\nPart of the tribal supply comes from blending the well water with surface water carried from the Missouri River through the Mni Wiconi Rural Water System pipeline.
\nThe department advised people who have either a severely compromised immune system, an infant, a pregnancy or an elder to seek a health care provider\u2019s advice about any effects.
\n\u201cRadionuclides generally enter drinking water through the erosion or chemical weathering of naturally occurring mineral deposits, although human activity (such as mining, industrial or military activities that use or produce man-made radioactive materials) can also contribute to their presence in water, according to an EPA compliance guide.
\nKamerzell said, \u201cI can\u2019t tell you how it got there,\u201d in this case, because the department doesn\u2019t know. He said the public can be assured all the remaining wells are safe.
\n\u201cWe\u2019re putting a lot of hard work into protecting our people and providing safe drinking water,\u201d he said.
\nEvidence suggests that long-term exposure to radionuclides in drinking water may cause cancer. In addition, exposure to uranium may have toxic effects on a person\u2019s kidneys, according to the EPA.
\nThe tribal government, grassroots organizations and individual tribal members have opposed local uranium mining in aquifers for fear of health, environmental and cultural impacts.<\/p>\n

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

<\/span><\/div>

Visit Original Source<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<\/span><\/div>

PINE RIDGE \u2013 An official statement baring forbidden levels of uranium in drinking water from an Oglala Sioux tribal well has caused turmoil, but the supply has been capped along with any problem, a field supervisor assured the Native Sun News Today on Feb. 7. The statement, dated Jan. 28, <\/p>\n

Read More<\/a>
Shared by Native Sun News Today<\/a> February 12, 2020<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/div>","protected":false},"author":1541,"featured_media":9765,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5627],"tags":[10105,3222,6657],"class_list":["post-9764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-resource-directory-blog","tag-archive","tag-news","tag-top-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1541"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9764"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9764\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}