Montana’s Blackfeet Nation Declares State of Emergency

Blackfeet Nation officials have declared a State of Emergency citing serious and immediate threats to "public health, public safety, and the environment" on Tuesday.

"A State of Emergency is hereby declared in response to the failure of the East Glacier sewer lagoon system," officials said in their statement.

And unfortunately, as I've learned, some of the concerns in the recent statement were brought up just a few years ago.

State of Emergency Over Failure of East Glacier Sewer Lagoon System

The East Glacier lagoon system is a large wastewater treatment facility that serves the people of East Glacier on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation.

The lagoon system's purpose is to collect and treat sewage from homes and businesses in East Glacier but unfortunately, according to the statement, that system has failed.

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"On April 24, 2026, the Blackfeet Tribal Business Council declared a State of Emergency in response to the failure of the East Glacier sewer lagoon system, which poses a serious and immediate threat to public health, safety, and the environment, including nearby waterways and affected residences in the East Glacier area," the statement said, "The system failure highlights longstanding concerns regarding the federal government's legal obligations under the Indian Sanitation and Facilities Act."

"Under this law, the Indian Health Service (IHS) is responsible for ensuring that Native communities have access to safe and adequate sanitation infrastructure."

According to the site for Indian Health Service, their mission is just that:

The mission of the Indian Health Service (IHS) is to raise the health status of the American Indian and Alaska Native people to the highest possible level. To carry out this mission, the IHS provides comprehensive primary health care and disease prevention services. The Sanitation Facilities Construction (SFC) Program is the environmental engineering component of the IHS health delivery system.

IHS also says "the SFC Program provides technical and financial assistance to American Indian tribes and Alaska Native villages for cooperative development and construction of safe water, wastewater, and solid waste systems and related support facilities."

Blackfeet Nation Says IHS Has Failed

While the mission of the IHS is clear, Blackfeet Nation say they haven't followed through on any of that.

"Insufficient funding and support from IHS to ensure the structural integrity of the East Glacier lagoon system have contributed directly to the current emergency," Blackfeet Nation says in their statement.

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"The East Glacier lagoon system is one of several water and sewer systems IHS has failed to uphold in its trust responsibility."

Insufficient Funding from IHS Has Been Well-Documented

This isn't the first time IHS has come under fire for sanitation issues. According to a report from the Office of Inspector General (OIG) from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from 2024, "a substantial number of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) homes lack essential water and waste disposal facilities, putting many AI/AN people at higher risk for disease."

In this report, we learn OIG identified challenges IHS needed to address back in 2022.

"Despite these efforts, IHS struggled to overcome some of the challenges, which threatened its ability to complete projects and meet essential sanitation needs in a timely manner," the report said.

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OIG's record of how IHS handled those challenges is an alarming reminder that the current 2026 State of Emergency declaration likely could have been prevented.

This report also highlights "Recommendation Details", showing IHS's response status to the recommendations.

The first recommendation detail said "IHS should assess the relative benefits of its current recruitment and retention strategies to guide future staffing plans, as well as exploring new tools to address staffing shortfalls." This was "Closed on 3/18/26" and cited as "implemented."

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The second recommendation detail said "IHS should explore options for expanding housing for Division of Sanitation Facilities Construction (DSFC) staff," which currently has an update expectation date of March 18, 2027.

What is Blackfeet Nation Doing in the Meantime?

In the meantime, officials say "site assessments specific to the East Glacier lagoon system have been conducted in coordination with environmental and water program officials, and response planning is underway to mitigate impacts, stabilize the lagoon system, and begin necessary repairs."

Officials also shared that The Tribe is coordinating with IHS, EPA, "and other relevant agencies on emergency response efforts."

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Even then, officials expect a viable long-term solution and accountability.

"This short-term coordination does not replace IHS's ongoing trust responsibility to ensure reliable, fully funded wastewater infrastructure for the East Glacier community and all other communities within the exterior boundaries of the Blackfeet Nation," officials said.

"IHS's failures have left critical infrastructure vulnerable, and our community exposed to preventable risks."