Spokane International Airport has until March 28 to agree to a draft order setting up an environmental remediation plan for PFAS contamination.
State officials and the airport have been negotiating an agreement to study and clean up a suite of soil and water contaminants, including PFAS. Sometimes known as “forever chemicals,” PFAS substances are water soluble and take years to break down.
For many years, firefighting foam used at Spokane International and nearby Fairchild Air Force Base contained PFAS substances. Runoff containing the chemicals made its way into groundwater aquifers, raising concerns among West Plains residents about the quality of their drinking water.
PFAS contamination was discovered at the international airport in 2017, but the airport did not disclose its findings to state environmental officials. The Washington Department of Ecology learned of the contamination last spring. In October, the department invited airport officials to negotiate a cleanup plan. A process that was slated to take 60 days has been extended three times since, each time at the airport’s request.
The airport put some of the blame for the delays on the Federal Aviation Administration. In a March 7 letter, Brian Werst, an attorney representing the airport’s board, told Ecology the federal agency had some concerns about the cleanup proposal, and was taking up a formal review to ensure the state plan wouldn’t conflict with federal law.
“To date, the FAA has not issued any guidance to the Airport or Ecology regarding the conflicts and the proposed Agreed Order,” Werst wrote. “Ecology is asking the Airport to sign an order that may well put it in jeopardy with the federal government.”
Werst’s letter asked Ecology to hold off on enforcing the order until Spokane International hears back from the FAA. It is not clear when the federal review will be done.
The Department of Ecology responded March 12, in a letter addressed to Spokane International Airport CEO Larry Krauter. Ecology’s toxic cleanup program site manager, Jeremy Schmidt, defended the state’s timeline for negotiations and its desire to launch the contamination study and remediation plan. Schmidt also sought to reassure the airport that additional funding sources could be identified to help pay for the cleanup process, if it is discovered that federal airport money won’t cover certain costs.
When it granted the airport’s latest extension request last month, the Department of Ecology set a March 11 deadline to sign the agreement. The agency was not inclined to grant another extension.
“Ecology will not be continuing negotiations or making any further changes to the [order], absent the agency’s determination that a change is in the public’s interest,” Schmidt wrote in his March 12 letter.
PFAS chemicals have been in use for decades in a variety of industrial and consumer products. In the last few years, their potential effects on human health have drawn significant attention. Health and environmental agencies are still learning about the chemicals and how they affect people.
Peer-reviewed research indicates PFAS substances may have some influence on health issues such as fertility, cholesterol, immunity and certain cancer risks, but no clear causal connection has been established.
PFAS contamination forced the city of Airway Heights to stop using its municipal well in 2017. It is using water furnished by the city of Spokane until a new local well can be drilled. West Plains homeowners are now participating in a federal-state study to find out how extensive and severe PFAS contamination is in the groundwater in an area bounded by Fairchild Air Force Base, the Spokane River, and Interstate 90.
