Solid Waste Management

Solid waste dumpsites can be a public health threat and a threat to the quality of Reservation waters. Pollutants of concern include bacteria/pathogens, metals, nutrients, pesticides, oil, grease, and other chemicals. Similar to other rural areas throughout the world, illegal solid waste dumping occurs on the Lummi Reservation and it is difficult to both identify who is illegally dumping wastes and to stop the dumping. Cleaning up the dumpsites is the most direct way of removing the potential public health threat and threat to Reservation water quality. Placing signs, preventing access to dumpsite locations, community education efforts, and providing assistance in solid waste removal are methods that can help stop illegal dumping activity.

In 2002 the Lummi Indian Business Council (LIBC) initiated Project Clean-Up to remove and dispose of reported dump sites and install exclusion gates to repeat dump locations. Later named Lummi Waste Management, the effort ran until its dissolution in 2007 because of reduced funding. The costs associated with the program included supporting salaries and benefits of the clean-up crews, providing materials (e.g., gloves, safety vests, signage, plastic bags, tools, equipment, gates, vehicles, repair and maintenance, fuel), and dumping fees. Solid waste management activities that have continued include community clean-up events (e.g., November 2009 and April 2011), installation of exclusion gates, targeted clean-up of dump sites, and the development of an integrated solid waste management plan.

In 2014, in coordination with the Lummi Planning Department, the Water Resources Division developed the Lummi Nation Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan (ISWMP). The LIBC approved the Lummi Nation ISWMP by LIBC Resolution 2014-077 on April 16, 2014. The purpose of the Lummi Nation ISWMP is to guide current and future efforts to effectively and efficiently manage solid waste on the Lummi Reservation and to protect and restore environmental trust resources including water resources, shorelines, tidelands, and uplands through the management and disposal of solid and hazardous waste. The report's final recommendations include re-establisment of a Solid Waste Management Division within the Lummi Nation Planning and Public Works Department, subsidizing weekly curbside solid waste and every-other-week recyclables collection, implementing a public education and outreach program, and joining the Tribal Solid Waste Advisory Network (TSWAN).

A copy of the Lummi Nation Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan, as well as summary reports regarding Project Clean-Up and the activities of the discontinued Lummi Waste Management Team can be accessed in Available Documents. Title 18 of the Lummi Code of Laws (Solid Waste Control and Disposal) can be accessed here.