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  • Indian Health Service to Phase Out Use of Dental Fillings Containing Mercury by 2027

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    ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The federal agency that provides health care to Native Americans and Alaska Natives has announced it will phase out the use of dental fillings containing mercury.

    The Indian Health Service has used fillings, known as dental amalgams, that contain elemental mercury to treat decayed and otherwise damaged teeth for decades. Native American rights and industry advocates have called for an end to the practice, arguing it exposes patients who may not have access to private dentistry to a harmful neurotoxin.

    The use of mercury-containing amalgams, also known as “silver fillings” due to their appearance, has declined sharply since 2009 when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reclassified the devices from low to moderate risk. The industry has largely abandoned them in favor of plastic resin alternatives, which are also preferred for aesthetic reasons.

    The Indian Health Service says it will fully implement the move to mercury-free alternatives by 2027. Already, the percentage of the Indian Health Service’s roughly 2.8 million patient user population receiving them has declined from 12% in 2005 to 2% in 2023, the latest year of available data, agency documents show.

    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees IHS, said growing environmental and health concerns about mercury exposure, and global efforts to reduce materials containing the hazardous heavy metal prompted the change announced this month.

    “This is a commonsense step that protects patients and prevents harm before it starts,” Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., said in a statement.

    The agency’s switch to mercury-free alternatives also upholds legal responsibilities the U.S. government has to the 575 federally recognized tribes, he said.

    According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, dental amalgam fillings can release small amounts of mercury vapor during placement, removal, teeth grinding and gum chewing. It recommends that certain people at high risk for adverse effects of mercury exposure, including pregnant women, children under 6, and those with existing neurological conditions avoid the fillings. But the administration, along with the American Dental Association, says available evidence does not link mercury-containing fillings to long-term negative health outcomes.

    The World Health Organization has created a plan to encourage countries around the world to phase out the use of dental amalgams, citing potential for mercury exposure. In 2013 several countries, including the U.S., signed onto the Minamata Convention, a global agreement targeting the adverse health and the environment effects of mercury. In November, signatories to the convention agreed to phase out the use of mercury-containing dental amalgams by the year 2034.

    While Kennedy’s decision to stop its use within the IHS by 2027 puts the U.S. ahead of the global schedule, the country is still behind many other developed nations that have already banned the practice.

    “The rest of the world is light years ahead of us,” said Rochelle Diver, the U.N. environmental treaties coordinator for the International Indian Treaty Council, adding that IHS patients should not receive treatment that is considered antiquated by many dentists.

    In a statement, the American Dental Association acknowledged declining use of mercury-containing fillings, but said they remain a “safe, durable and affordable material.”

    The use of mercury in other medical devices, including thermometers and blood pressure devices, has also declined sharply in recent decades. While mercury-containing amalgams have fallen out of favor in the U.S. private dental sector, patients relying on government services may not have a say, according to Charles G. Brown, president of the World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry.

    Many state-administered Medicaid programs continue to cover mercury-containing fillings as a treatment for tooth decay, Brown said.

    “If you’re on Medicaid, if you are stuck in the Indian Health Service, if you were stuck in a prison or other institution, you just don’t have any choice,” Brown said.

    Brewer reported from Oklahoma City.

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Feb. 2026

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  • South Dakota Hotel Owner Found Liable for Discrimination Against Native Americans

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    SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — The owner of a South Dakota hotel who said Native Americans were banned from the establishment was found liable for discrimination against Native Americans on Friday.

    A federal jury decided the owner of the Grand Gateway Hotel in Rapid City will pay tens of thousands of dollars in damages to various plaintiffs who were denied service at the hotel. The jury awarded $1 to the NDN Collective, the Indigenous advocacy group that filed the lawsuit.

    The group brought the class-action civil rights lawsuit against Retsel Corporation, the company that owns the hotel, in 2022. The case was delayed when the company filed for bankruptcy in September 2024. The head of the company, Connie Uhre, passed away this September.

    “This was never about money. We sued for one dollar,” said Wizipan Garriott, president of NDN Collective and an enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. “It was about being on record for the discrimination that happened, and using this as an opportunity to be able to really call out racism.”

    Uhre posted on social media in March 2022 that she would ban Native Americans from the property after a fatal shooting at the hotel involving two teenagers whom police identified as Native American. She wrote in a Facebook post that she cannot “allow a Native American to enter our business including Cheers,” the hotel’s bar and casino.

    When Native American members of the NDN Collective tried to book a room at the hotel after her social media posts, they were turned away. The incident drew protests in Rapid City and condemnation from the mayor as well as tribes in the state.

    In Friday’s decision, the jury also ruled in Retsel’s countersuit against NDN Collective that the group had acted as a nuisance in its protests against the hotel, awarding $812 to the company.

    The Associated Press reached out to the defense attorneys for comment.

    Rapid City, a gateway to Mount Rushmore, has long seen racial tensions. At least 8% of the city’s population of about 80,000 identifies as American Indian or Alaska Native, according to census data.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – December 2025

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  • Carbon Capture Pipelines Have Struggled to Advance. A Project in Nebraska Found Success

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    BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A multi-state carbon capture pipeline began operating in September, reducing emissions from Midwest ethanol plants and carrying that carbon dioxide gas to be forever buried underground in Wyoming — an achievement after years of complaints, lawsuits and legislation blocked similar efforts by other companies.

    Other projects prompted intense opposition, including one that has run up $1 billion in spending with no guarantee of success, but the Tallgrass Trailblazer Pipeline is being praised. The reason: community negotiations and financial support.

    “I wish all energy companies would treat communities with a lot more respect like Tallgrass did,” said Jane Kleeb, whose group Bold Nebraska has fought other carbon capture and oil pipelines.

    The Tallgrass pipeline has started moving emissions from 11 ethanol plants in Nebraska and one in Iowa to a site in southeast Wyoming, where the greenhouse gas will be buried 9,000 feet underground.

    The fermentation process to convert corn into fuel releases carbon dioxide. By capturing it before it’s released into the air, plants can lower their carbon intensity score, making the ethanol more attractive for refinement into so-called sustainable aviation fuel — a market some believe could climb to 50 billion gallons annually. The Midwest-based ethanol industry sees jet fuel as essential to its future, offsetting expected declines in demand for motor vehicle fuel as more drivers switch to electric vehicles.

    The federal government encourages carbon capture through lucrative tax credits to pipeline operators. The Biden administration wanted to encourage a practice that could reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the Trump administration has let the credits continue.

    “If an ethanol plant captures the carbon, it lowers their carbon index and they become a low-carbon fuel, and there’s a premium for that,” said Tom Buis, CEO of the American Carbon Alliance, a trade group. “And they can also produce sustainable aviation fuel out of it. Sustainable aviation fuel is a huge, gigantic market just waiting for someone to step forward and take it.”


    Routing a pipeline isn’t easy

    At least three other companies have proposed carbon capture pipelines in the Midwest, but aside from Tallgrass, only Iowa-based Summit Carbon Solutions is persisting — and it hasn’t been easy.

    Despite strong support from agricultural groups and the ethanol industry, Summit has dealt with persistent opponents who don’t want their land taken for the pipeline and fear a hazardous pipe rupture. Landowners sued to block the pipeline and sought help from legislators. South Dakota’s legislature banned the use of eminent domain for such lines.

    In response Summit has asked Iowa regulators to amend its permit so the company retains an option for a route that would avoid South Dakota.

    “Our focus remains on supporting as many ethanol partners as possible and building a strong foundation that helps farmers, ethanol plants, and rural communities access the markets they’ll depend on for decades to come,” Summit said in a statement.

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency oversees a rigorous process for underground carbon dioxide injection, involving permits for construction and injection and regulations to protect underground sources of drinking water, Carbon Capture Coalition Executive Director Jessie Stolark said. Typically, porous rock formations similar to a sponge will store or trap the carbon dioxide more than a mile underground, she said.

    Tallgrass had one big advantage at the starting point — it converted an existing natural gas line. The natural gas was put on a different pipeline as Trailblazer was retrofitted. The company built branches off the 400-mile mainline to connect to ethanol plants.

    But Tallgrass also took pains to engage with communities along its route.

    The company worked with people to get its project done “instead of trying to push it down our throat,” said Lee Hogan, chairman of the Adams County commission in Nebraska, whose home is a half-mile from the pipeline.

    It helped that Tallgrass worked with Bold Nebraska, a citizens group, to create a community investment fund that will make annual payments to organizations related to early childhood development, Medicaid-eligible senior care and food pantries.

    Tallgrass will make an initial $500,000 contribution followed by annual payments based on 10 cents per metric ton of carbon dioxide sent through the pipeline. The Nebraska Community Foundation, which will manage the fund, expects more than $7 million will be given out through 2035 across 31 counties in four states.

    It’s a unique arrangement, and a possible template for future projects, said Nebraska Community Foundation leader Jeff Yost.

    “I’m just really impressed that folks that could have just approached this purely as opponents have come together to find a really productive middle ground,” Yost said.

    Tallgrass spokesman Steven Davidson said the investment fund is just one piece of the company’s agreement with Bold, which he said emphasizes being cooperative and transparent, such as when surveying land and valuing easements.

    While lauding Tallgrass’ cooperative approach, Jack Andreasen Cavanaugh, who studies energy policy at Columbia University, said it may be hard to replicate the experience since few if any natural gas pipelines will be available for retrofitting, given increases in supply and demand for natural gas domestically and abroad. Tallgrass’ line crosses his family’s land in Nebraska.

    Still, companies can do better to engage and negotiate with communities, and that includes spending money, he said.

    Kyle Quackenbush, a Tallgrass vice president, said his advice to other pipeline companies is to listen.

    “I think the biggest advice we would have for people is to take those concerns seriously,” he said, “and figure out what it takes to be able to help people get comfortable and understand that this infrastructure is a benefit for their community and not something that they need to be afraid of.”

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Oct. 2025

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