Trees to clean up pollution!

On Monday, May 14, 2012 AATA will be working to help the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians plant nearly 4,000 trees in a phytoremediation project to clean up a brownfield site on tribal land  in Manistee, MI.

A story about the project was published in the Detroit News. Here is the press release giving the details of the event:

The Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, (LRBOI) a federally recognized Tribe based in Manistee, Michigan announced today that Archangel Ancient Tree Archive (AATA) has offered to provide the Tribe with an unprecedented gift of nearly 6000 national champion willow saplings.

As is customary to the Tribe, an honoring Ceremony is in order to pay tribute to AATA for their generosity and guidance. The event will take place on May 14th at 11:00 a.m. at their lakefront property located at 159 Brickyard Rd, Manistee, MI.  Anyone interested is invited to attend the event.

Jimmie Mitchell, Director of Natural Resources for the Tribe explained, “what makes this gift so unique and vitally important, these saplings, once planted, mark the beginning of a long-term phytoremediation test project upon one of the Tribe’s severely contaminated Brownfields known as the Eastlake site. This is one of the many contaminated properties that the Tribe currently owns within our Reservation boundary.”

Mitchell added, “the Tribe has been actively conducting remediation on contaminated lands spanning several decades and now through the unique approach of healing the Earth by harnessing and concentrating the power of nature, we will be able to monitor the effectiveness of these unique trees to help heal the soil, air, and water. The answers we obtain should also provide us with a clearer understanding of how well phytoremediation works and with that knowledge, assist in planning future remediation projects to better affect the environmental health associated with fish, animal, plant and human ecosystems.”

The ongoing conviction that LRBOI continues to display towards environmental stewardship comes as no surprise as the Tribe has been actively pursuing environmental and natural resource management since the Tribe became federally reaffirmed in 1994.

The Eastlake Brownfield is situated on the shores of Manistee Lake, a drowned river-mouth that empties directly into Lake Michigan a mere mile away from the Tribe’s property.

Industrialized Use 1800’s – Forward

Contamination on this site has been cataloged through the Tribe’s EPA Brownfield assessment program which has effectively substantiated the existence of volatile organic compounds and semi-volatile organic compounds including metals and inorganic constituents, benzene, ethylbenzene, fluoranthene, phenanthrene, arsenic, chromium, lead, mercury, selenium, silver, copper, xylenes, and zinc at concentrations exceeding the MDEQ’s Generic Residential Cleanup Criteria, or put differently, unsafe for any direct human use.

A Remedy Comes Full Circle

ARC’s Dave Milarch and Meryl Marsh, both principals of the Traverse City based non-profit organization approached the Tribe during the late-summer of last year with the offer to gift the Tribe with Willow saplings. At that time, neither Milarch nor Marsh had an understanding that the Tribe owned contaminated lands.  Milarch recalls Mitchell musing during their first meeting as to how well the Willows might assist in cleaning up a toxic waste site.  Milarch’s reply was quick and simple “quite well” and thus discussions pertaining to the phytoremediation project began.

ARC is an internationally renowned organization known for their painstaking efforts utilized in propagating clones from the world’s remaining, yet, dwindling source of champion old growth trees.

The parent champion trees the gifted saplings were taken from are nationally ranked champions in both size and age. As explained to Mitchell, “what makes cloning such an effective approach in reforestation, you are in essence, preserving the champion tree, and along with it, the inherent genetic strengths prevalent in the champion’s ability to survive for as long and as well as they have.

The collaboration of ARC and LRBOI’s approach to phytoremediation will be conducted upon a 1.5 acre site where 5800 Willow saplings will be planted and managed annually through coppicing.  The second phase of the study will be conducted through rigorous soil analysis to assess and chart the depletion of the pollutants over the subsequent years to follow.  An aggressive Grant strategy is also underway that is aimed to partner with other co-managing environmental resource agencies and municipalities.

For more information, please contact:

Jimmie Mitchell

Director of Natural Resources

Little River Band of Ottawa Indians

375 River Street

Manistee, MI 49660

231-398-2183

[email protected]