In East Glacier, a sewage emergency causes concerns

“I went up there on April 21st,” said David Spotted Eagle Jr., Aquatic Lands Protection Coordinator for the Blackfeet Environmental Office. He was referring to a pair of sewage lagoons serving East Glacier Park. Located southeast of the village, Spotted Eagle was concerned by what he viewed in the westernmost lagoon.

“I saw leakage, seeping through but not overflowing,” he said.

Having reported the incident to the Two Medicine Water Company, Spotted Eagle reports the company opened a valve into the eastern lagoon on April 23 which eliminated the seepage and prevented any overflowing.

“Because of the seepage, we met with the Tribal Council, the Water Department and Legal, and they declared a State of Emergency,” said Spotted Eagle.

The emergency was declared on April 24. The declaration places blame for the situation squarely on the Indian Health Service.

“Insufficient funding and support from IHS to ensure the structural integrity of the East Glacier lagoon system have contributed directly to the current emergency,” it states. “The East Glacier lagoon system is one of several water and sewer systems IHS has failed to uphold in its trust responsibility.”

Nevertheless, IHS and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are cited as assisting with the current situation.

“The Tribe is working in coordination with IHS and EPA and other relevant agencies on emergency response efforts,” it said. “However, this short-term coordination does not replace IHS’s ongoing trust responsibility to ensure reliable, fully funded wastewater infrastructure for the East Glacier community and all other communities within the exterior boundaries of the Blackfeet Nation.”

It is fortunate repairs can be made ahead of the tourist season in East Glacier Park when the population and demands on infrastructure grow exponentially.

“IHS got funding to make the repair,” Spotted Eagle said, “and we’re hoping the State of Emergency expedites everything.”

While speculative, Spotted Eagle offered his thoughts on how the problem might be addressed.

“It could be like the Browning lagoon where they’d empty the cells first. Here the lagoons are at the southeast corner of East Glacier, but across Midvale Creek there’s eight more so that when these two get filled it goes to the eight lagoons south. They could empty the two cells, remove the solids and sludge, and then line them to stop the seepage.”

East Glacier residents asked on social media how the State of Emergency would affect them and if they should limit their use of the sewage system. At present, the answer seems to be there’s no need to conserve. 

“I’m going up there today or tomorrow as part of the team that’s monitoring the situation,” Spotted Eagle said last week. “Greg Tatsey, the Water Department director, has people monitoring as well.

“It shouldn’t impact East Glacier residents so much because Two Medicine Water would have said so with the State of Emergency,” he noted. “But we’ve notified the EPA and we’re waiting on their guidance.”