"the People's Paths!" Cherokee News Path - Cherokee Nation Self-Help Project

"A brand new pump house sits at the edge of a wastewater lagoon near the town of Oaks. Cherokee Nation recently contributed $7,500 to Oaks for a self-help project to temporarily prevent sewage from leaking into the community’s Spring Creek and contaminating water sources. A permanent water treatment project will begin in the spring."

OAKS, Oklahoma - Stimulus funding and a great partnership with the Cherokee Nation are making all the difference in the water quality of the town of Oaks in Delaware County. Recently the Cherokee Nation entered into a self-help agreement with the Oaks Public Works Authority to repair a wastewater treatment lagoon that had been leaking sewage into the community’s Spring Creek.

“We have a strong Cherokee population in Oaks, so we felt that it was imperative that we assist,” said Chris Sams, engineering manager for Cherokee Nation Water and Sanitation. “By eliminating the sewage discharges, we are helping both the environment on our lands and improving the health and wellness of all people who utilize Spring Creek.”

The town’s situation called for immediate action. Cherokee Nation stepped in with a $7,500 contribution specifically for the temporary project. The contribution was made from tribal self-help funds and provided for materials, equipment, technical assistance and construction inspection.

“The town of Oaks did not have the proper equipment to successfully do the job,” said Jesse Reed, Oaks clerk treasurer. “Without this equipment we would not have been able to complete the construction on the lagoon.”

Other entities such as the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, Neel/Harvell Engineering and the OPWA, which provided the labor, also played vital roles in solving the problem of containing the sewage while repairing the existing lagoon system.

The initial project is now complete and a temporary land-application system has been put into place to pump down the lagoon below the breach level, eliminating the leaking of sewage into the creek. The second phase of the Oaks project, a new water treatment system, is estimated to begin in the spring of 2010 and is expected to take around six months, weather permitting.

The water treatment project will come at a cost of approximately $1.5 million and the same group of entities that partnered with Cherokee Nation in the temporary project will work together again, with the addition of Holloway, Updike and Bellen Engineering in Muskogee, Community Resources Group, Rural Development, Housing and Urban Development, the Environmental Protection Agency and Indian Health Service. Additional funding for the project will be provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

“Now that we have addressed the discharges into Spring Creek, it will now allow us to focus on the new, permanent treatment project that the Cherokee Nation received ARRA funding for through Indian Health Service,” said Sams.