More to tribal story

Recently, many news articles have been written about issues surrounding a court case between three Maine companies and Maine Native Americans. In a court decision two weeks ago, the superior court held the tribal governors and chief in contempt for failing to provide certain documents. There is more to the story about how it came to this and why.

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection has been seeking authority from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to be the sole provider of discharge licenses. This would remove the duplicative licensing process for dischargers from both DEP and EPA. It would be more efficient and cost effective, and 44 other states already have this authority. Maine applied for it at the urging of the EPA.

DEP started to run into trouble with its EPA application last winter. It was then discovered that EPA had entered into several “secret agreements” with the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy tribes. The agreements committed EPA to protect the tribes’ “sovereignty,” even though the 1980 Maine Indian Land Claims Settlement Act made Maine laws applicable to the Maine Indians. In addition, the U.S. Department of the Interior offered a legal opinion that this was proper and necessary under federal law. However, DOI did not read the 1980 Maine Indian Land Claims Settlement Act or its implementing act closely enough.

Under the act, the Maine tribes are specifically not granted the same level of recognition and rights as many other tribes. And in the act, the state retained the rights to regulate all natural resources, including any on land belonging to the tribes.

The court case filed last spring attempted to get all the relevant documents related to the “secret agreements.” Because the tribes are considered as municipalities under the act and are therefore subject to state laws such as the Freedom of Access Act, information was sought by the coalition to evaluate EPA’s dealings.

The tribes refused to follow the law by attempting to reinterpret the 1980 act. They failed to do so and were ordered by the judge to turn over the documents requested. When they refused, they were found to be in contempt of court and ordered to jail if they did not produce the documents or appeal the decision to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. They eventually decided to appeal the decision and avoid jail.

Millinocket is a member of a coalition that was formed to support Maine’s application at EPA and the proper application of the 1980 Settlement Act. The coalition is made up of 18 municipalities and utility districts, and 10 companies. Most are located along the St. Croix and Penobscot River basins. If the tribes and DOI prevailed in their errant views of the 1980 act, legal dischargers along these rivers would be subject to tribal and EPA regulation as well as by DEP. That is counter to the licensing authority sought by DEP and supported by the coalition.

This is not about big paper companies fighting the tribes. It is about the rights of all the people living along these rivers and the level of regulation the tribes and EPA would impose beyond the levels already required by law. New and potentially punitive regulations would severely harm utility rate-payers and taxpayers, not just a few companies. Such regulation is unneeded, unwarranted and illegal under the act. It is also time that EPA approves the licensing request by DEP without further delay.

Eugene J. Conlogue is the town manager of Millinocket.