AIRWAY HEIGHTS, Wash – Harmful chemicals, known as PFAS, have been seeping into water sources in the Westplanes area. PFAS are a harmful chemical that builds up in the environment and are known to cause health problems.
Recently, PFAS were detected at the Spokane International Airport, and the Washington State Department of Ecology has ordered the airport to start making plans to clean up the chemicals. The two sides have been at odds for six months, and conversations between them have been unproductive and unsuccessful.
NonStop Local spoke to the department’s Eastern Region Director Brook Beeler who said, “further delay just wasn’t acceptable.”
Beeler said PFAS were detected in hundreds of private wells, the city of Airway Heights, Fairchild Air Force Base, and the Spokane International Airport. Beeler said they were able to pinpoint the cause of the presence of PFAS in the water sources, “We know from historic use of firefighting foam in areas where the airport was using that, that is the likely source for the detection in their groundwater monitoring wells.”
Beeler added that the Air Force base has been working with the Federal government, but the airport has been dragging its feet. ” We recently ceased those negotiations because we are in the place where we know we need to act now.”
The enforcement order required the airport to investigate the extent of the contamination.
“No matter what, if they are going to begin work related to studying the extent of the contamination, it has to be done under ecology’s authority.”
In a statement, an airport spokesperson said, in part, that the order “does not represent the type of reasonable, balanced approach that is necessary to ensure that a scientific and data-driven process is utilized.”
The statement also indicated that the airport was also reviewing directions from the federal aviation administration.
However, Beeler said the core of this issue is safety, and that always needs to be the top priority. ” We have to act. We have to start moving on understanding the extent of that pollution so that we can develop a long-term solution.”
