AboutLori

Gila River Alliance for a Clean Environment

Lori's Introduction
I am Native American (Akimel O'odtham) from the Gila River Indian Community. A single mom of a grown 20 year old daughter. I've worked in the Public Health field with some knowledge of Informational Technologies.

My other job is that of an activist, that happened completely by accident. In the late 70s my family was affected by chemical exposure for approximately 3 decades even though we were told that is was safe to live on the land.

Since then we have experienced a cluster health effects, which includes a high number of miscarriages within the family. Other concerning health problems included misdiagnosed rashes, breathing problems, problems with our bone marrow, and regenerating blood cells.

The site in which we experienced the chemical exposure was named a superfund site by the USEPA back in the mid-80s. At this time it is no longer on the superfund listing. The USEPA has been back 20 years later to test the site. The numbers tested higher in some areas of the land. There were a number of dangerous chemicals found on site as well as in surrounding areas. Among those chemicals were DDT (which was banned in the late 60s) and Toxophene (which was banned in the early 70s) and at least 30 other dangerous chemicals. According to EPA own records there were hundreds of drums unearthed on my grandfather's personal tribal allotment land.

The operators of the pesticide business never obtained permission from my family, the tribe or the Bureau of Indian Affairs to operate at the site.

I've struggled with the thoughts of abandoning my work numerous times, but in the end, there is no way I can walk away from these environmental problems.

Co-Founder of GRACE, Lori (Thomas-Luna) Riddle

Basic Grace Information
I co-founded GRACE - Gila River Alliance for a Clean Environment. Since the beginnings of GRACE, members have worked toward the dismantling of a medical waste incinerator operating on tribal lands.

We are also attemping to evict a chemical recycling plant which brings hazardous waste from all over the world.
We hope to bring environmental awareness to people at both a local level as well as a national level.

Thank you to all of our supporters and allies, we do nothing without action.