PFAS in West Plains private wells

If you have a private well, you can collect a water sample and pay a lab for testing. The accredited lab closest to the West Plains that analyzes for PFAS is Anatek Labs in Spokane. Well sample results are not valid if they are given on the spot during a visit to your home from a salesperson.

The investigation into PFAS at the Spokane Airport is underway, which could lead to sampling off airport property if it is proven contamination is leaving the property.

If another opportunity for no-cost sampling becomes available, we will announce it through our West Plains PFAS updates email list. You can subscribe online or email WestPlainsPFAS@ecy.wa.gov and request to join.

In addition to working with the Department of Health to provide safe water to those who need it, well sampling results provide the agencies with necessary data to help inform future cleanup efforts. We add all the results to the model of PFAS contamination in the West Plains being created through our area-wide groundwater investigation grant with the City of Medical Lake.

A sampling event is a snapshot in time. Because contamination and groundwater are constantly moving, we cannot know future levels at any location based on one sample.

Ecology is focused on identifying and removing the source or sources of PFAS contamination and reducing risk to people and the environment. We are moving as quickly as possible to expedite the investigation into where PFAS from the Spokane Airport is located.

If it is found that private wells are affected by contamination from the airport or any other source, Washington’s environmental cleanup law, the Model Toxics Control Act, gives Ecology authority to require those responsible to provide safe water to homeowners either through whole-house filtration systems or connecting to municipal water where possible.

The responsible party would pay all costs associated with whole-house treatment system installation, maintenance, and periodic sampling. If you already installed a whole-house treatment system, the responsible party would have the discretion to install a new whole-house system or maintain and periodically sample your existing system.

To recover the costs of installing and maintaining a water filtration system you purchased, we recommend you speak to a lawyer. Ecology doesn’t have the authority to require parties responsible for contamination to reimburse you for filtration costs. You could seek reimbursement under a separate private action.

If you purchase a filtration system, you can learn more about selecting one that removes PFAS on Department of Health’s PFAS page. 

Ecology doesn’t endorse any specific systems. You must ensure filter systems have been independently tested and certified by a third party, like NSF.

You may be visited by people selling filtration systems. Here are some things to keep in mind if a salesperson is offering you free sampling and trying to sell you a filtration system:

• Well sample results are not valid if they are given during the initial visit. Samples must be analyzed by an accredited lab using EPA Method 533 or 1633.
• No company has the only filtration system that will work at your home.

• The areas north of Highway 2 had the highest levels of PFAS. Some more than 20 times the drinking water standard.
• The small number of samples taken south of the Spokane International Airport mostly did not have PFAS; however, directly east of the airport and south of Interstate 90, some wells had PFAS up to five times the drinking water standard.
• Samples taken south and west of the Fairchild Air Force Base were below drinking water standards for PFAS.

Two potential PFAS sources in the northeast West Plains have been identified:

• Fairchild Air Force Base (FAFB) is investigating PFAS in groundwater and monitoring drinking water wells in the "Fairchild AFB Study Area" in the map above (the area west of Hayford road). FAFB provides in-home treatment or alternative water to homes with PFAS above federal drinking water standards. 

• Spokane International Airport has PFAS contamination, and Ecology is requiring the airport to investigate whether PFAS is leaving its property.

Ecology awarded the City of Medical Lake an area-wide groundwater investigation grant to develop a model of PFAS contamination in the West Plains. Medical Lake partnered with Dr. Chad Pritchard at Eastern Washington University to complete groundwater sampling and analysis, model development, and public outreach.

Thirty locations were tested four times over a year to complete the model. Another 100 locations were sampled to calibrate the model to ensure accuracy. All sampling is completed, with the final report expected summer 2025.

Join us at the West Plains Water Coaltion meeting at 7 p.m. on June 9 at the HUB in Airway Heights. Dr. Pritchard will be presenting the results from the final report, and we will be available to answer questions.