PCBs and Mercury Contaminate Salmon

During the 1930s, the widespread use of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in various industrial applications had a significant and detrimental impact on waterways, posing a threat to aquatic ecosystems and human health due to their persistence and bioaccumulative nature. During the establishment of the Bonneville Dam, the Army Corps of Engineers began disposing waste on Bradford Island. Over a span of 40 years, the island and the Columbia River became repositories for debris laden with hazardous PCB chemicals. This led to the contamination of the waterway and inflicted harm upon marine life, rendering the once crucial fishing grounds inaccessible to the Yakama Nation. "In the beginning, since time immemorial, we have had a sacred relationship between our people, the salmon, and the Columbia River . . . Bradford Island and the surrounding area is what we call a usual and accustomed fishing place, used since time immemorial. Article 3 of our treaty says that we reserve the right to fish and gather at all usual and accustomed areas. This includes the right to have safe, toxic-free fish, so the water has to be safe and toxic-free. Bradford, for so long, has not been toxic-free . . . Who are the victims? First of all, it's the water. In our way of belief we understand that water is life. The other victims are the things that rely on the water: the fish, the salmon, and all the other natural resources. And then us humans, especially members of Yakama Nation who revere the salmon as one of our First Foods, and our neighbors who also rely on the resources. Yes, the Bradford Island toxic waste dump is a crime scene. Environmental laws are being broken. The historical, cultural, and spiritual significance of places like the Bradford Island area for members of Yakama Nation is enormous, as it has been since time immemorial."