The Environmental Protection Agency will hold a meeting this Wednesday to discuss the treatment as state status for the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa in Wisconsin.

The tribe is seeking to set its own water quality standards on the reservation. Congress has recognized the authority of tribes to implement and enforce the standards under the Clean Water Act.

Even though the law has been upheld by the courts, opponents say tribal sovereignty shouldn't be recognized. Rep. Mark Green (R-Wisconsin) is lobbying the EPA to deny the tribe's request.

Melissa K. Scanlan and Andrew Hanson of the non-profit Midwest Environmental Advocates support the tribe's request. They say it will lead to cleaner water for tribal and non-tribal members.

"Improvements to reservation waters will send cleaner water to the downstream users off the reservation. In a clean water-dependent economy like that of northern Wisconsin, this can only be seen as a gift to the band's neighbors," they write in an opinion piece published in today's Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

Get the Story:
EPA to meet on tribe's request to control reservation waters (AP 2/10)
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Melissa K. Scanlan: Protecting reservation waters is a benefit to all (The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel 2/13)

Relevant Links:
Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians - http://www.lacduflambeautribe.com

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