Grantee Research Project Results
2008 Progress Report: Understanding the Cumulative Affects of Environmental and Psycho-Social Stressors that Threaten the Pohlik-lah and Ner-er-ner Lifeway: The Yurok Tribe’s Approach
EPA Grant Number: R833708Title: Understanding the Cumulative Affects of Environmental and Psycho-Social Stressors that Threaten the Pohlik-lah and Ner-er-ner Lifeway: The Yurok Tribe’s Approach
Investigators: Sloan, Kathleen , Steinberg, Steven J , Steinberg, Sheila
Current Investigators: Sloan, Kathleen , Steinberg, Steven J , Steinberg, Sheila , Fluharty, Suzanne
Institution: Yurok Tribe Environmental Program , Humboldt State University
EPA Project Officer: Aja, Hayley
Project Period: July 1, 2008 through December 31, 2012 (Extended to December 31, 2013)
Project Period Covered by this Report: June 8, 2008 through September 8,2008
Project Amount: $974,389
RFA: Issues in Tribal Environmental Research and Health Promotion: Novel Approaches for Assessing and Managing Cumulative Risks and Impacts of Global Climate Change (2007) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Environmental Justice , Climate Change , Tribal Environmental Health Research , Human Health
Objective:
The project objectives have been based upon the initial proposal and modified based upon planning sessions by the Project Team during Year 1:
- Identify the chemical stressors and contaminants known to be used or to occur (historically and contemporarily) throughout the Klamath River Basin and watershed. (synthesis of existing research and GIS)
- Identify the common mechanism groups (CMG) pathways & contaminants known to be used or to used or to occur throughout the Klamath Basin and associated with adverse health outcomes. (synthesis of existing toxicological information and comparable studies)
- Collect primary data on the current conditions of Klamath River water and select key subsistence species by testing for selected contaminants and chemical stressors as identified in steps 1 & 2. (Sameps 1 & 2. (Sampling & Analysis
- Identify relationships between resource health and tribal member health, as data supports such extrapolation and interpretation of project data. (PPGIS , tribal health data, and epidemiological review and analysis of collected health related data)
- Develop GIS tools, educational materials, measures and policies designed to reduce, minimize or prevent risks of exposures by subsistence practitioners to improve and protect Klamath River tribal member and resource health.
Progress Summary:
Provide brief statements covering work status and preliminary results, emphasizing findings and their significance to the field, their relationship to the goals of the project, and their relevance to protection of the environment and human health, including improvements in risk assessment, risk management, etc: which will be obtained if the expected results are achieved This discussion should be written in terms understandable by the educated layman and should include potential practical applications.
This report is the first annual report prepared and submitted to EPA for this grant. It will detail initial delays in project start up that support our request for a change in project start/end dates. It summarizes tasks completed during Year 1 and presents proposed changes in project schedule for objectives identified in the initial project proposal. This report reflects the refinements and changes to the project as a result of planning activities and consultations with the project team during Year 1.
- Project start
EPA issues a grant agreement for this project on June 8, 2008. This grant agreement did not arrive and on July 14, 2008 a copy of the original agreement was faxed to the Yurok Tribal Offices by EPA. The grant agreement was signed by the Tribal Chair in July 15, 2008.Due to the need for Yurok project staff to complete other grant activities by September 30, 2008 and the summer schedules and prior commitments of the HSU Project Team, work on the project did not commence until October 1, 2008.
- Negotiation and completion of sub-contract for HSU sub-award.
Humboldt State University's (HSU) participation in the project as a research partner was introduced in the original project proposal. The formal instrument developed for defining this relationship and the pass-through of the sub-award to HSU was a contract through the Yurok Tribe.The completion of the contract required the negotiation of tasks, roles, responsibilities and deliverables to be completed by HSU faculty, researchers and graduate student members of the Project Team. The contract had to be reviewed and approved by the HSU Sponsored Programs Foundation and the Yurok Tribal Attorney's Office, the Yurok Executive Office, The Yurok Tribal Fiscal Office and the Yurok Tribal Chair prior to final execution. The final contract was not fully executed and signed by both parties until January 2009. Work on the project by HSU members of the Project Team could not commence until the contract was in place.
- Research and compilation of existing and available data on contaminants, comparable toxicological studies, and GIS data sets.
Staff from the Yurok Tribe have compiled existing data sets available through the Tribe and other sources on historic and contemporary uses of a range of contaminants known to be used throughout the Klamath River Basin and watershed.A literature review has been completed for comparable toxicological studies on specific contaminants, aquatic species, and known adverse health outcomes.
GIS and other data on pesticide applications on the Yurok Reservation was compiled by YTEP project staff and provided to HSU for review and determination of use in the Project.
- Review and analysis of existing tribal data (GIS, ethnographic studies, surveys) for potential value and use in project.
Year 1 activities for HSU involved the completion of a review and gap analysis of available or existing data sets of potential use and benefit for use in the Project. HSU researchers reviewed all existing data sets provided by the Tribe (GIS data, ethnographic information and tribal member survey data) to determine their potential usefulness for the project and to validate all GIS data sets selected to be used in the project. Data selected for use in the project is being entered into a GIS and is currently being analyzed by the HSU Project Team.
- Research and preparation of a Quality Assurance Project Plan for approval by EPA prior to the collection of primary data.
Yurok Project staff have devoted the majority of Year 1 efforts to the preparation and completion of a Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) to guide all phases of data collection and analysis to be completed in subsequent years of this grant. The QAPP must be completed and approved by EPA Project Officer, Nigel Fields and EPA Quality Assurance Manager prior to the collection of any primary data for this project. The draft QAPP is complete and is currently under review by HSU Project Team and will be submitted to EPA for review by September 31, 2008.
- Research and selection of qualified Laboratory to conduct laboratory analysis of samples collected for the project.
Yurok Project staff have researched costs and capacity of several labs in order to identify the lab that has the greatest capacity to conduct analyses on the widest range of potential contaminants. The lab identified by the Project team as being best suited for this project is the California Department of Fish & Game Water Pollution Studies Laboratory in Moss Landing, CA. A contract is currently under negotiation with the Lab for Year 2 and Year 3 testing and analysis of water and tissues samples collected for this project.
Future Activities:
Year 2 Activities will include:
Completion of Phase 1: Planning tasks:
- Completion of compilation, review and final evaluation of existing and available data sets and information to be used in the project.
- Review and approval of QAPP by EPA (and revisions as required by EPA)
- Final selection of Laboratory and completion of contract with Lab for testing and analysis of water and tissue samples to be collected in Years 2 & 3.
- Final approval of target species to be analyzed by Yurok Tribal Council.
Initiation of Phase 2: Data Collection tasks:
- Initial PPGIS workshops with tribal members conducted by HSU and YTEP.
- Conduct Tier 1 screening (sampling and analysis) of Klamath River water and tissue from selected subsistence species to collect data on current conditions and identify target contaminants for testing in Year 3.
- Negotiate and obtain data on tribal member health trends from regional medical and health facilities.
Journal Articles:
No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 17 publications for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
Microcystis, microcystin, pesticides, diabetes, cancer, endocrine disruptors, flame retardants, salmon, candlefish, Pacific lamprey, freshwater mussels, Mytillus, sturgeon, steelhead, metals, PCBs, PBDEs, DDT, organochloride, organophosphate, Pohlik-lah and Ner-er-ner;Progress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.
Project Research Results
- Final Report
- 2013 Progress Report
- 2012 Progress Report
- 2011 Progress Report
- 2010 Progress Report
- 2009 Progress Report
- Original Abstract