Poplar, Montana’s current roll-off site is on an eroding bank of the Missouri River, situated within the floodplain. This roll-off is where town residents dispose of waste into wheeled dumpsters that are eventually trailered to a permanent landfill. The community would like to develop a long-term roll-off designed to fully address local requirements for waste disposal without risking future water contamination. TEX expertise, coupled with community input, can help to design and engineer a sustainable, functional new roll-off station. This project will help position Poplar to redevelop the current roll-off site into a nature park and community gathering place that will connect elders with youth by incorporating language, tribal ecological knowledge, and intergenerational cultural transmission and understanding.
Poplar is a town (population about 800) in rural Northeastern Montana, within the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Indian Reservation. The Fort Peck Tribes Office of Environmental Protection is working to characterize and remediate the old roll-off site and is currently applying for funding to build a nature park in that location. The community is hoping that the spot will eventually become a vibrant local park, garden, and area to get children outdoors, learning from elders while enjoying the river. The design of a new roll-off site in partnership with Thriving Earth Exchange would be the first step in this goal and is a project that no other organization currently involved is able to complete.
In the future, this project will remove the unstable roll-off site and will create a riverbank park in its place, increasing both community connection and local flood resilience. Building the park and completing remediation will likely be grant-funded. However, there is no clear route forward regarding the creation of a new roll-off station in the community, nor is there anyone currently involved with the project who has the engineering expertise required to design one.
This TEX project will allow the first chronological priority – engineering a new, viable roll-off site location – to move forward. Problematically, there has previously been minimal attention to community priorities or environmental concerns when selecting and designing roll-off sites. This project will give Poplar a roll-off site with a design that is expertly engineered, created in response to community input, and carefully located to avoid becoming a health hazard. Additionally, community members can help decide how to monitor future water quality or other safety concerns. Completing a new roll-off site design will also help Poplar proceed with the planned community nature park and resilience center projects as soon as funding is secured.
If there is time and if all group members are interested in doing so, the TEX project may expand into the second stage of Poplar’s vision for this area. This would likely begin by asking community members about their preferences for elements to include in a nature park at the current roll-off site location. It could also extend to directly co-designing a park with community members and/or local students. These options will depend on timing, group motivation, and funding source considerations. Regardless, engineering a new roll-off site will set a strong foundation for future park development.
Once a scientist is officially onboarded, this project is expected to last about one year, although the timeline may shift as needed.
Wilfred Lambert has been a dedicated member of the Fort Peck Tribes Office of Environmental Protection since 1998 and currently serves as the Fort Peck Tribes Office of Environmental Protection Director. In this role, he oversees the development, coordination, and management of the office’s programs and operations. With a career spanning 25 years, Mr. Lambert has led numerous environmental assessments and cleanup projects, improving safety, enhancing access to natural resources, and contributing to the revitalization of communities across the Fort Peck Indian Reservation.
Mr. Lambert’s expertise in environmental compliance and community outreach has also extended into his roles on the Fort Peck Tribes Planning Committee and the Brockton Public Schools Board of Trustees. He is recognized for his ability to build consensus and foster collaboration across various stakeholders.
Ian Drum I am from the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. I have been working with Environmental Protection going on almost three years now, first started off working with USTs and LUSTs and later moving into brownfield work. I’ve spent most of my life in the area, along with my 3 children. Raised traditionally, my family grew up on wild game and fish and being a part of all the ceremonies that come with that. Being brought up traditionally taught me to be mindful and respectful of my natural surroundings. I love the brownfield work because it goes hand in hand with one of my favorite teachings, to leave the earth better than you found it.
Nell Davis is a teaching assistant and PhD student at University of New Hampshire in the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment. She grew up in small-town Vermont and has always spent most of her free time either reading or outdoors, usually hiking, biking, cross country skiing, or sailing. Her academic background is in geology, art history, and natural resources. She has worked as an outdoor educator or education program coordinator in several states, and she has also been both a park interpretive ranger and a search and rescue team member. Her teaching experience, foundation in geology, and strong connections to the rural areas in which she has lived all contributed to her interest in community and participatory science. She’s looking forward to helping build connections with community members, professional scientists, and innovative place-based science methods.
Scientists do not need to be local to Poplar, although a willingness to travel there at least once would be helpful. The selected scientist will be asked to design a new roll-off site based on the community’s input. This will entail community-led location selection, site engineering, choosing which elements to include, creating a final design, and revising that design throughout to make sure it is in accordance with community priorities. If the scientist is interested in doing so, this project could extend into designing the nature park that will be placed where there is currently a roll-off station. New perspectives are always appreciated, so the scientist would be welcome to bring in their students or others who would like to be involved.
This project is looking for up to two scientists. The first priority is an engineer to help design the new roll-off site; the second priority is someone with landscape architecture expertise to aid in the new site design and to potentially later help redesign the current site.
Thriving Earth Exchange asks all scientific partners to work with the community to help define a project with concrete local impact to which they can contribute as pro-bono volunteers and collaborators. This work can also position the scientists and communities to seek additional funding, together, for the next stage.
Fort Peck Tribes Office of Environmental Protection
The Fort Peck Tribes Office of Environmental Protection safeguards the natural resources of the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes.
Center for Hazardous Substance Research at Kansas State University
