Water Crisis: Airway Heights officials advise citizens not to drink water
AIRWAY HEIGHTS, Wash. — Airway Heights city officials and Fairchild officials delivered a press briefing Tuesday on plan to distribute bottled water to residents.
Officials say 3 city wells have been tested. 2 came back contaminated with PFOS and PFOA chemicals. Citizens are told not to drink water.
The chemicals are non-regulated. EPA has created a health advisory about what would happen if you were exposed to chemicals.
Officials advise citizens not to drink water. Women, children, infants, and the elderly are the most vulnerable.
More tests are to be performed. The city will be handing out 7,000 gallons of bottled water tonight at the Yoke’s parking lot in Airway Heights.
Fairchild has been testing various private wells, and are awaiting results.
The source of contamination is unclear, however Fairchild AFB used these chemicals in fire retardant from the 1970’s up until last summer.
One well showed the chemicals 17x higher than the EPA recommendation of 70 parts per trillion.
Two other wells showed levels 12x higher than the EPA recommended threshold of 70 parts per trillion.
It is unknown how long chemicals have been in water supply. PFOS and PFOA are not part of standard well testing.
This is a developing story. We will continue to update.
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