AIRWAY HEIGHTS, Wash. — Inland Northwest residents are getting another opportunity to learn more about the environmental and health impacts of the "forever chemicals" occasionally found in the local water supply.
Fairchild Air Force Base (FAFB) and the Air Force Civil Engineering Center are hosting a community listening session on Wednesday, April 24. The session will give community members an opportunity to learn more about per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), as well as sampling for the chemicals in the Fairchild area.
Anyone interested in attending the session are welcome to speak to the base's stakeholder panel during the session. Panel members will be available to answer questions from the public.
"EPA and the Washington Departments of Ecology and Health all believe that community participation builds more effective remediation plans, not just good PR," said John Hancock, founder and president of the West Plains Water Coalition. "Let’s keep the PFAS pressure on, by attending and commenting, both verbally and in writing."
The listening session is set for Wednesday, April 24, 2024 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Shriners Event Center in Spokane.
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In 2017, water tested in Airway Heights was tested for contamination of PFAS form firefighting foam, putting Airway Heights residents at heightened risk for negative health effects. In 2018, three landowners in Airway Heights and Medical Lake sued the U.S. government, the Department of Defense and the U.S. Air Force over groundwater contamination caused by firefighting foam.
The Biden administration put limits on toxic PFAS in national drinking water in April 2024.
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