SPOKANE, Wash. — An Eastern Washington professor is speaking out about groundwater contamination in the West Plains.
Chad Pritchard, a professor at Eastern Washington University, has been studying the West Plains contamination for years. On Monday night, he discussed his findings at a public meeting in Airway Heights.
The contamination itself came from firefighting foam used at Fairchild Air Force Base (FAFB) and the Spokane International Airport (GEG) for decades.
A map from the West Plains Water Coalition shows private wells at risk of PFAS contamination. More than a thousand of those wells are located around the West Plains neighborhood.
In 2017, the city of Airway Heights had to disconnect from the aquifer and start paying for water from a different source because the chemicals in the water, known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), are considered permanent. In early 2024, KREM 2 learned of similar contamination around the Spokane airport.
Now, hundreds of families and property owners are left wondering about the health effects of those "forever chemicals."
Dr. Pritchard will be discussing his findings at a public meeting Monday night at 7 p.m. at the HUB in Airway Heights. The meeting is open to the public, and officials from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will be there to talk about help and resources available to those with contaminated well water.
You can find out more information about the impact of PFAS on the West Plains by clicking here.
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