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Lori Riddle

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Flag of the Gila River Indian Community

Lori Riddle (formerly Lori Thomas-Luna) is an Akimel O'odam Indian Tribe member who promotes environmental justice in Arizona.[1] Riddle is the co-founder and director of the Gila River Alliance for a Clean Environment (GRACE), a group focused on environmental health and justice issues on the Gila River Indian Reservation, and serves on the board of Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice. [2][3] She is best known for her work regarding the Romic Environmental Technologies Corporation chemical treatment plant and the Arizona Loop 202 freeway expansion.

Early childhood

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Gila River Indian Community gathering in 2024

Lori Riddle grew up on the Gila River Indian Community reservation in Arizona. The land her community used for agriculture had been a common pesticide dumping ground since the 1930s which brought inedible agriculture yield. She believes that this pesticide leaching has been causing the reoccurring illnesses and miscarriages present in her family generations.[2] In addition, the community had a nearby industrial park operating a medical incinerator and hazardous waste treatment plant. Her community's exposure to toxic chemicals encouraged her to became an environmental activist. [4]

Legacy

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Romic Southwest Environmental Technologies Corporation Chemical Plant

Bay Road Holdings LLC (formerly Romic Southwest Environmental Technologies Corporation) was a hazardous waste storage and treatment company that began operation in 1964. The treatment company worked with fuel blending, aerosol can processing, container crushing, wastewater treatment, solvent recycling, and hazardous waste storage and treatment. [5] Romic owned and operated a facility in Lone Butte Industrial Park in Chandler, Arizona near the Gila River Indian Reservation. On April 5th 2005, a Romic operator made an incompatible mixture of hydrogen peroxide-bearing waste and inorganic acid in a facility tote that resulted in a flash fire, smoke and sounded the facilities' emergency alarm. After this initial reaction, the mixture was transferred into a tank that became over-pressurized sounding a second alarm. After both alarms, the remaining mixture left in the tote combined with unknown contents and released 40 gallons of hydrogen peroxide, a hazardous waste, into the atmosphere of the surrounding area including the Gila River Indian Reservation. [6]

Lori and her community filed an official compliant against Romic Southwest that was acted upon by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2007 in violation of environmental compliance. The compliant alleged that Romic failed to take the necessary steps to notify the National Response Center and any local coordinator after the release. In the report, the EPA claims that the release could have been prevented if Romic had been following the proper hazardous waste handling procedures. [6] Romic Southwest Environmental Technologies Corporation was found to be in violation of the laws protecting its employees, the surrounding community and the environment. Romic was fined by the EPA for $67,888 for multiple hazardous waste violations. Instead of paying this fine, the company spent $100,800 on equipment for the Gila River Indian Community Fire Department and the Gila River Indian Community Department of Environmental Quality. [6] With EPA involvement, the Romic Southwest Environmental Technologies Corporation was closed in 2007 and demolished in 2009. [5]

Arizona Loop 202 Expansion

The Arizona Loop 202 expansion was a freeway construction project conducted by the Arizona Department of Transportation to improve connections and decrease traffic congestion in downtown Phoenix. This project was started in 1985 and was reauthorized for 20 years in 2004 to complete the 202 South Mountain Freeway. The mapping of the highway runs along a section of the Gila River Indian Reservation and through a part of South Mountain, a mountain preserve in South Phoenix. The Loop 202 expansion would damage a section of the preserve close to the community's reservation.[7] In 2004, the construction was approved by voters in the Phoenix metropolitan area through Proposition 400. [8]

Map of Arizona Freeway 202

Through Gila River Against Loop 202, Lori Riddle and the Gila River Indian Community opposed the proposal of construction. South Mountain, where the Loop 202 expansion takes place, has sacred value to O'odam culture and Pee Posh people. In O'odam culture, South Mountain acts as the home of their creator which aids in the survival and identity of O'odam people.[9] The mountain is important to several tribes in Arizona and is a central component of traditional stories and religious ceremonies. [10] In addition, South Mountain, or Moahdak Do'ag, contains prehistoric petroglyphs created by the Hohokam, a Oasisameriaca tribe in southern Arizona up until 1450 A.D. [11] Riddle feared that the expansion could cause environmental health risks to the Gila River Indian Community due to lingering dioxin emissions because of the parallel structure of the mountains where toxins could persist. [9] In 2012, the Sierra Club listed the Loop 202 expansion in Arizona as one of the worse transportation projects in the U.S. because of its encouragement of carbon pollution from auto emissions. [12] The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) released a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) in 2013 and a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) in 2014 covering the impact and environmental mitigation tactics for the Loop 202 expansion. [8] Riddle along with the Gila River Alliance for a Clean Environment filed a federal Title VI Civil Rights Complaint against the ADOT claiming discrimination against the tribal community. [10] The Record of Decision (ROD) for the project was issued in 2015, and construction started. [8]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "CGCC to host GRACE speaker Lori Riddle". Ahwatukee Foothills News. 2012-03-30. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
  2. ^ a b Hurtado, Allison (2012-04-06). "'No build' option personal for GRIC members". Ahwatukee Foothills News. Retrieved 2024-09-26.
  3. ^ "Arizona – Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice". Retrieved 2024-10-26.
  4. ^ Mease, Lindley (2018-12-04). "Farm to Shipyard: Greenaction is Making Real Environmental Justice". Blue Heart. Retrieved 2024-09-19.
  5. ^ a b US EPA, REG 09 (2017-09-19). "Bay Road Holdings LLC (formerly Romic Environmental Technologies Corporation)". www.epa.gov. Retrieved 2024-10-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ a b c "04/24/2007: EPA files complaint against Romic for recent hazardous release". www.epa.gov. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
  7. ^ "Case Study: LOOP 202 SOUTH MOUNTAIN FREEWAY, PHOENIX, ARIZONA" (PDF). Center for Innovative Finance Support – via U.S Department of Transportation.
  8. ^ a b c "Project History - Loop 202 (South Mountain Freeway) | Department of Transportation". azdot.gov. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
  9. ^ a b "Gila River Indian Community members to vote on Loop 202 extension". KJZZ. 2012-02-02. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
  10. ^ a b Tribune, Allison Hurtado, Special to (2013-08-04). "Gila River Indian Community members file civil rights complaint against ADOT over freeway". East Valley Tribune. Retrieved 2024-09-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ Leon, Liliana (2022-03-18). "Gila River Against Loop 202 Highway". ArcGIS StoryMaps. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
  12. ^ "Gila River Against Loop 202". Gila River Against Loop 202. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
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