The USET Office of Environmental Resource Management presents
the Reducing Lead in Tribal Communities Webinar Series

On October 8th, the Biden-Harris Administration issued its final rules of the Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI). The LCRI has committed federal funding to make sure that all communities have safe, clean drinking water. USET’s Office of Environmental Resource Management (OERM) Lead Reduction Team is inviting subject matter experts (SMEs) to share challenges, accomplishments, and the processes they are using to help them address potential lead contamination and reduce any risks by using the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 3Ts for Reducing Lead in Drinking Water in Schools and Child Care Facilities guidance.

Lead is a naturally occurring heavy metal that is globally recognized as a substance that has serious health consequences if consumed, especially for children. The adverse health effects range from lowered birth weight and slowed physical and mental development in infants, to lowered IQ levels, impaired hearing, reduced attention span, and poor classroom performance in young children. Clean and safe water is essential and paramount to building a sustainable economy, successful educational and public health systems, and most importantly, a healthy and productive environment for children. Please join us for these informative conversations.

When:

• January 23 at 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm Central/2:00 pm – 3:00 pm Eastern
  SME: Ginny De La Cruz, Program Manager, Arizona Department of Health Services
  Topic: Training – “Applying the 3TS approach in Arizona: A focus on Training”
• February 13 at 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm – Central/2:00 pm – 3:00 pm Eastern
  SME: Holly Thompson Duffy, Environmental Health Science Manager, Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board
  Topic: Testing – “Utilizing the EPA 3Ts to Test Drinking Water for Lead at Schools and Childcares”
• March 19 at 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm /2:00 pm – 3:00 pm Eastern
  SME: Rosalind Ground, Environmental Health, Seneca Nation of Indians
  Topic: Taking Action

Who should attend: Tribal Leaders, Health Directors, clinic staff, Tribal Utility Staff, Environmental Directors and staff, Education Administrators, and anyone in the Tribal community would like to learn about the EPA’s 3Ts for Reducing Lead in Schools and Child Care Facilities.

What:

• Learn about each module of the EPA’s 3Ts from subject matter experts from across the country;
• Hear about the challenges our SMEs overcame while building out a lead reduction program;
• See how federal funding can be used to test drinking water for lead in schools and childcare facilities;
• Gain valuable knowledge of the EPA’s 3Ts program and how it can provide long term health benefits to Tribal communities.

Registration:

Registration information coming soon.

Key Speakers Information:

Ginny De La Cruz is an experienced public health professional with seven years of service at the Arizona Department of Health Services. Her work has spanned various areas, including skin cancer prevention, foodborne illness investigations, and currently, lead poisoning prevention. Ginny is the Program Manager for both the Arizona Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program, and the Lead Testing in Drinking Water Program for Arizona Schools and Child Care Facilities.

Holly Thompson Duffy is an Environmental Health Science Manager with the Portland Area Indian Health Board where she manages projects focused on reducing environmental health risks in the 43 member tribes it serves. In addition to providing core environmental health services, Holly manages the “Voluntary School and Childcare Lead Testing and Reduction Grant” which serves the 43 federally recognized tribes in WA, ID and OR. Prior to this she served for nine years as an Environmental Protection Specialist with the Portland Area Indian Health Service, managing an interagency agreement with the EPA to reduce the health risks of pests and pesticides by educating and empowering communities to use Integrated Pest Management (IPM). While there she also served as the technical lead on a project to collect valuable data on children’s exposures to lead, allergens, pesticides, and PCBs in Tribal childcare facilities. Holly is looking forward to sharing her experiences of environmental sampling in Tribal communities!

Questions: 

For more information, please contact USET’s Lead Program team:

Jakira Saunders, Program Manager
Ben Peyton, Senior Technical Assistant Specialist