This section focuses on water quality and monitoring of the beaches, groundwater, and surface water on the Reservation. To better protect waters on the Reservation, we received Treatment of a State (TAS) on April 21, 2020. This allows us to implement and manage water quality by allowing us to create Water Quality Standards (WQS) and by implementing 401 permitting.
Maintaining air quality is a priority to KBIC. Obtaining air quality assessment data and information is vital in developing a strategy to protect air quality. Program objectives below will allow KBIC to assess the basic air quality for program and policy planning, as well as develop the capacity to conduct the proposed activities, and prepare for obtaining additional baseline data including an emissions inventory. MOLD/RADON
The five focus areas of this program include environmental response, underground storage tanks, open dumps, legacy pollution, and brownfields.
The goal of KBIC’s Sustainability Program is to support sustainability projects throughout the reservation and 1842 Ceded Territory through conservation and balance of resources.
Current Projects and Partnerships
BIA/GLRI
Shoreline: Sediment transportation, deposition, and erosion are all parts of a natural process along shorelines. The Natural Resources Department collaborates with local, state, and federal partners to determine why excessive erosion may be occurring and what actions could be taken to address potential issues.
Torch Lake Public Action Council
Torch Lake is located in Houghton County in Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula. The western shoreline of Torch Lake provided a site for milling facilities for the mines of Calumet and Hecla (C&H) and Quincy mining companies. A total of eight mills operated at different times along the shoreline between 1860 and 1970, producing the large volume of stamp sands that were deposited into the lake (approximately 200 million metric tons).
