ADA, Okla. – The Chickasaw Nation signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish a framework for cooperation and coordination in the effort to help ensure sustainable management of water, land, and other natural resources.
Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anoatubby met with U.S. EPA Office of Research and Development (ORD) Assistant Administrator Dr. Christopher Frey Sept. 24 to celebrate the new partnership.
“It’s certainly a pleasure to go into this next step,” Governor Anoatubby said. “We’ve been in partnership with the Kerr Environmental Research Center and EPA for many years in one way or another, and we are thankful this expansion we have will allow for closer scientific working relationships and direct government to government engagement that’s focused on our shared ability to protect and preserve our natural resources.”
The MOU provides a system for both parties to pursue research, development and assessment programs for environmental research management, including the protection and management of groundwater at the Arbuckle-Simpson Aquifer.
“(The Arbuckle-Simpson Aquifer) is a vital resource for our communities,” Governor Anoatubby said.
The MOU also establishes a connection between Chickasaw Nation scientists and EPA scientists to conduct research side by side at the Robert S. Kerr Environmental Research Center.
U.S EPA ORD Center for Environmental Solutions and Emergency Response (CESER) Groundwater Characterization and Remediation Division Director Dr. Saba Tahmassebi said the collaboration of scientists is a new forefront for environmental resource development.
“I would like to thank the Chickasaw Nation for its leadership in environmental protection, for being a very good partner to EPA and the partnership that we have – the partnership of two sovereign nations, two equal partners,” Tahmassebi said.“It will lead to two nations working together addressing common goals.”
Frey said the MOU is more than a signed agreement, it is a real ongoing relationship betweentheChickasawNation and the EPA.
“The MOU we’re here to celebrate is about, in part, study and evaluation,” Frey said. “It’s about community outreach and partnership. It’s about water conservation, water supply security and drought resiliency.”
The partnership will aid both parties in efforts to sustain and improve community health and provide sustainable resources for future generations. The MOU builds on and replaces two previous agreements between EPA and the Chickasaw Nation from 2008 and 2016.