SPOKANE, Wash. — On February 10, The Washington Department of Ecology issued an “Emergency Interim Action Plan” to address the presence of “forever chemicals” also known as perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.
In the notice, The Department of Ecology stated:
“Based on available data, Ecology has determined contamination originating from Spokane International Airport (SIA) property has migrated downgradient and impacted off-property drinking water at levels exceeding safe standards. To address impacts to commercial and residential drinking water, emergency interim actions are required.”
As part of this order, The Department of Ecology, also including a series of deadlines, including one to develop a health and safety plan in 14 days.
That draft due on February 24th.
According to the Department of Ecology, PFAS were first detected in the area around the International Airport in 2017.
The drinking water standard for forever chemicals in Washington State is 10 parts per trillion, but the Department of Ecology reports that in certain areas of Spokane International Airport PFAS levels are at 16,000 parts per trillion.
As part of the order, the airport, city and county will have to create a plan to install filters or provide safe bottled waters in West Spokane.
Chuck Danner, a resident of West Spokane, tested his blood for PFAS chemicals two and a half years ago.
“They call them forever chemicals for a reason, they don’t go away,” Danner said.
His blood work indicated high levels of the chemicals, which the CDC links to several health impacts, including high cholesterol and cancer.
“It seemed to indicate that I was probably contaminated in my well water and drinking them,” Danner said.
Danner conducted tests through three different labs, which showed no detectable PFAS chemicals in his well water. Those tests, coming back negative.
“All those reports showed no PFAS Chemicals,” Danner said. “Undetectable, anyway, is what they call it.”
The source of his PFAS exposure, still undetermined. But in the wells around his property, his neighbors have tested positive for unsafe amounts of PFAS.
“There’s PFAS in the neighbor that way, the neighbor across the road, all around me there’s PFAS in the wells,” Danner said.
Many of Danner’s for Department of Ecology-sponsored filtration systems.
a $7.5 million grant from the Department of Ecology to put Point-of-Entry Treatment (POET) systems in West Plains areas affected by PFAS contamination.
However, the February 10 Emergency Interim Action Order increases the timeline to address residents’ well water.
“The enforcement order that we have with ecology, it’s a very aggressive one,” said Lisa Corcoran, Chief Development Officer at Spokane International Airport, during a joint meeting Thursday.
During that presentation, the Airport Board also reviewed the history of the airport, saying that FAA requirements for a commercial airport require competency with certain firefighting foams that contain PFAS.
Corcoran also explained that the airport has met all previous enforcement order standards given by the Department of Ecology.
When it comes to the newest order, Corcoran said during the presentation plans still need to be made.
“City council and the airport were issued interim action, and with a specific scope of work. It’s too early to update what that means,” Corcoran said. “Once we have clarity as to what that looks like, what that means schedule-wise, next steps, we will report on that.”
However, for residents like Danner, more testing seems inevitable.
“They don’t break down, you know, in any foreseeable amount of time,” Danner said.
Part of the emergency interim actions order includes a public participation plan and public comment period, with a meeting scheduled for February 25 at 6:00 p.m.
