Kiowa Environmental

PREPARE FOR FIRE SEASON

If you live in an area where the wildfire risk is high prepare for fire season. Being prepared is especially important for the health of children, older adults and people with heart or lung disease.

BEFORE A WILDFIRE

• If any family member has heart or lung disease, including asthma, check with your
  doctor about what you should do during smoke events. Have a plan to manage your condition.
  
• Stock up so you don’t have to go out when it’s smoky. Have several days of medications
  on hand. Buy groceries that do not need to be refrigerated or cooked because cooking can add to indoor air pollution.
  
• Create a “clean room” in your home. Choose a room with no fireplace and as few windows
  and doors as possible, such as a bedroom. Use a portable air cleaner in the room.
  
• Know how you will get alerts and health warnings, including air quality reports, public service announcements (PSAs), and social media warning you about high fire risk or an active fire.
  
• Ask an air conditioning professional what kind of high efficiency filters to use in your home’s system and how to close the fresh-air intake if your central air system or room air conditioner has one.
  
• Have a supply of N95 respirators and learn how to use them. They are sold at many home
  improvement stores and online.
  
• Know your evacuation routes, prepare your children,
  
• Consider your pets when planning.                                                                     
  

DURING A WILDFIRE

• Stay inside with the doors and windows closed. Run your air conditioner with the fresh-air intake closed (“recirculate mode”) to keep smoke from getting indoors. Seek shelter elsewhere if you do not have an air conditioner and it is too warm to stay inside with the windows closed.
  
• Follow your health care provider’s advice if you have heart or lung disease. If your symptoms worsen, reduce your exposure to smoke and contact your provider.
  
• Do not add to indoor air pollution. Do not burn candles or use gas, propane, wood-burning stoves, or aerosol sprays. Do not fry or broil meat, smoke tobacco products, or vacuum. All of these can increase air pollution indoors.
  
• Pay attention to local air quality reports and health warnings. Public service announcements give you important information such as changing conditions, cancelled events, or evacuation notices.
  
• Do not rely on dust masks or bandanas for protection from smoke. An N95 respirator can protect you if it fits snugly to your face and is worn properly. These are not recommended for children.
  
• Get air quality information: Check your local news, the airnow.gov website, or your state air quality agency’s website.
• Call the KTEP office for any information. 580-654-1975
  

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​The KTEP received their first annual funding from the General Assistance Grant through the U. S. Environmental Protect Agency in 1994 to preserve, protect and improve the quality of the Kiowa Tribes natural resources.

The U.S. EPA General Assistance Program (GAP)  Assistance is provided under this program only for activities which the agency determines are appropriate to carry out the purposes of the Indian Environmental General Assistance Program Act of 1992, Public Law 102-497, Section 11, 42 USC 4368B, as amended, Public Law 103-55.

There are 10 Regional Offices within EPA and each is responsible for the execution of their own programs. The KTEP is under the EPA Region 6 office in Dallas, TX.

Base line Water Monitoring is conducted under the 106 Water Pollution Control Grant from the U.S. EPA. Providing funds to build a baseline water monitoring program which supports the Kiowa Tribe Environmental Program’s water quality monitoring.

KTEP’s requirement for each funding year is to: (this is only a few depending on work-plan)

• Protect the quality of the Kiowa Tribe’s environment by building the basic office and information management infrastructure to support a Kiowa Tribal environmental program for the future.
  
• Working with governments (Federal, Tribal, State and local) and the Kiowa members and communities.
  
• Building Air, Water, Land capacity by identifying and addressing pollution issues and the effects it has on human health or the environment.
  
• Operating an environmental program to protect and preserve the natural resources the environmental health of Kiowa lands.
  
• To have a fully functional environmental programs office that is self-sufficient and efficient at handling all environmental issues.
  
• To have an environmental department that is as trained and qualified to ensure that all environmental issues are handled accordingly.
  
• Promote environmental awareness to the Kiowa Tribal members through education, demonstrating and outreach projects about pollution impacts.
  

Focus will be the Baseline Water Monitoring Program in accordance with EPA-approved monitoring strategy and EPA-approved QAPP. To determine the physical, chemical and biological conditions of a water body and evaluated so that water quality trends can be identified and measured in order to ensure that water quality can be maintained and improved as necessary.

Each fiscal year the KTEP is required to develop a work-plan and all deliverables are submitted to EPA Region 6, Dallas, TX.

 The KTEP office has two grants: General Assistance Program (GAP) and the Water Pollution Control (WPC). With only three employees.

  KTEP's Success:

Accountability to maintain adequate administrative records and grant files, adjusting process/procedures and financial accountability as needed to support grant management.

Installed two Wind Turbines at the Kiowa Tribal Complex. By reducing Green House Gas emissions thru energy conservation, utilizing natural resources to produce clean renewable energy, energy efficiency at tribal facilities.

5 planned clean-up campaign events each year to reduce illegal dumping and waste. Sites utilized for roll-off containers were during Kiowa Tribal Annual Society celebrations. Two Tiah Pai societies, Tone Kone Gyah (black-legging) and summer/fall events at the Kiowa Complex.

Identified over 50 illegal dump sites and provided this list to the Indian Health Services under the Star System. Received funding from IHS to clean-up 6 large dump sites and 8 homes with house-hold trash. KTEP continues to list other sites. There is a lack of funding for these clean ups.

KTEP held 2 e-waste events (Anadarko & Carnegie) and 2 trash-off days during state wide events each year. ODOT Annual trash-off, American recycle day, Earth day and Keep Oklahoma beautiful.

Working with the Caddo County Local Emergency Planning committee and OK department of Emergency Management. Staying updated about emergency management and training. Attending the Southwest Emergency Management meetings and Drills on Earth, Wind and Fire exercises.

Student working group ages 12 to 17 years of age who attended meetings and after school activities addressing Environmental issues. Attending 6 International indigenous student Video conferences with Russian, Malaysian and Altai students via Live Video’s. Through these Video’s 2 students with 1 KTEP employee and the Region 6 EPA Director were selected to go to Russia all paid by Carol Hiltner, founder of the Altai Mur University, Russia.

To this day the KTEP office continues to work with students on environmental issues and outreach activities. From Solar models to visiting the Wichita Mountains and many after school activities.

KTEP’s Water Pollution Program monitors 8 individual Kiowa Tribal sites each once on a monthly basis with YSI instrumentation for Collecting water data. Collection and test E. coli samples from each monitoring site. Testing the basic parameters pH, temperature, Dissolved Oxygen, Conductivity, Turbidity, E. coli, Total Dissolved Solids and water depth with flow.

Conduct water conservation and preservation outreach. Two outreach events with the Carnegie Jr. High and High School Native American Heritage Club on November 4, 2016. The students were educated on water conservation and preservation.