Last month, Washington's Department of Ecology signed off on an "initial PFAS investigation work plan" for Spokane International Airport.
The Dec. 13 plan was written by GSI Environmental, a contractor hired by the airport to manage the investigation into the so-called "forever chemicals" in the PFAS family on the airport property. For years, federal regulations required airport firefighters to train with aqueous-film-forming foam made from PFAS chemicals that can be used to fight aviation fuel fires, and for that foam to be stored at all airports. The airport first tested for PFAS on site in 2017, after nearby Fairchild Air Force Base announced the chemicals were found in wells on and around the military base due to similar use of the foam.
By Feb. 4, the airport will test for PFAS and other substances in 52 existing groundwater monitoring wells and at 57 soil sampling locations (at different depths) around the property.
The testing is the first step as Ecology requires the airport to develop what's called a "remedial investigation," an official environmental document and work plan to address both chemicals in the PFAS family and other contamination that might be found at the site.
After this initial testing is finished, it'll likely take four to six weeks for a lab to verify the results, and from there, the airport will have 30 days to give a report to Ecology, says Jeremy Schmidt, Ecology's site manager for this project.
"This is just a very preliminary investigation," Schmidt says. "We just don't know much about what's out there at the airport so far."
Appendices attached to GSI's report include PFAS test results from March 2024, but those tests were conducted before Ecology issued an enforcement order requiring the airport to look into PFAS contamination. Those previous results and more information on the current investigation plan can be found at apps.ecology.wa.gov/cleanupsearch/site/16774.
Because the existing groundwater monitoring wells at the airport were drilled before PFAS chemicals were a concern, more wells may need to be installed to test in places where those chemicals were used or stored, Schmidt says.
The hope is that by the end of this year, the airport will provide Ecology with a draft remedial investigation for the site, which will outline a plan for far more extensive testing. After that extensive testing clarifies the scope of the problem, Ecology will work with the airport to develop a cleanup plan.
In the meantime, Ecology could require "interim cleanup actions" depending on what is found, Schmidt says. For example, if contamination is found to be leaving the site and contaminating drinking water nearby, the airport, which is co-owned by Spokane County and the city of Spokane, could be required to pay for water treatment for people who are affected. ♦
