SPOKANE COUNTY, Wash. — This November, Spokane County voters will have the chance to reelect long-time Republican commissioner Al French.
They may soon be asked to recall him if he wins that bid.
A recall petition filed Tuesday accuses French of violating his oath of office and misconduct, claiming he covered up PFAS contamination in his district for the better part of a decade.
Back in 2017, PFAS contamination was detected near Fairchild Airforce Base. Airway Heights residents were put on alert their water may not be safe to drink.
It wasn't until years later that it came to light the same so-called forever chemicals were leaking into drinking water around the Spokane International Airport.
The recall petition claims French not only knew about the contamination, but actively covered it up.
The neighborhoods impacted by the chemicals commonly used in firefighting foams years ago, which have been tied to cancer and other negative health impacts, include the West Plains. That's where Robert Dygert-Gearheart has lived for five years.
He says he only learned his water may be contaminated last May.
"Denied the few of us who live here the possibility of some help," Dygert-Gearheart said of French over the phone Wednesday.
He's now part of the Clean Water Accountability Coalition, the group that filed the recall petition against French. It claims he covered up disclosure of the situation for seven years, says Knoll Lowney, attorney for the petitioners.
"That cover up effectively poisoned the communities he was supposed to be serving," Lowney said.
The coalition is made up of West Plains residents including Mary Benham, who is the lead petitioner, and Fuse Washington. That's a progressive group which has endorsed French's district 5 opponent Molly Marshall.
The petition claims French prioritized the business interests of the Spokane Airport over constituents' lives.
"In fact he was protecting the airport and a public development authority he's on the board of," Lowney said. "So yes, he sabotaged a public health response to this public health crisis."
French did not respond to repeated requests from KREM 2 for comment on the recall effort.
Dygert-Gearheart says he had voted for French before he found out about the allegations of a cover-up.
"I will not vote for him again and I did not vote for him last month," he said.
He also doesn't want to see voters who aren't impacted by PFAS put French back in office in November, but knows its a possibility. He says he wasn't part of the group that decided to begin a recall effort during an election.
When asked about the timing of the recall push, Lowney says it's much larger than a reelection issue and voters deserve to make a decision on the allegations of corruption directly. He said if French loses his reelection bid, the recall will become moot.
In March this year, the EPA began testing drinking water in the West Plains. The coalition believes that testing and clean up could've started years ago, if not for French's alleged actions.
The petition says in 2020, French removed a PFAS grant application from a county commission agenda, telling an environmental services manager he was "concerned about the timing and potential impact on the airport."
"In fact he blocked government grants that would've tested the wells and provided support for these communities," Lowney says of other accused obstructions to fund mitigation efforts.
Much has to happen before voters would ever see a special recall election, if it gets that far. The petition now goes to the Spokane County prosecutor, who will write up a short summary of the charges that could appear on a ballot. That will go to Spokane County Superior Court, which has two weeks to determine if there's enough to move forward with a recall. Petitioners would then have to collect signatures to make it to the next stage.
Dygert-Gearheart says he and other neighbors are looking at footing the bill for water filtration systems to protect themselves, to the tune of $10,000 or $15,000 each.
"I'd like to see him held accountable for that," he said of French. "I don't know what it means legally but maybe he can go begging the people to reconsider and get us the money, right?"