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Resident urges inclusion of West Plains Aquifer in county protection ballot amid PFAS concerns
Summary
A resident told commissioners the West Plains Aquifer is excluded from an upcoming aquifer protection ballot and urged the county to add it after citing PFAS contamination in domestic wells down-gradient from the airport.
At the county's open public forum, Julia McHugh urged Spokane County commissioners to include the West Plains Aquifer System in a forthcoming aquifer protection ballot measure, warning of PFAS contamination she said affects local domestic wells.
McHugh, who identified herself as a Palisades neighborhood resident, told commissioners next week's vote would renew a third 20-year aquifer protection area but exclude the West Plains system. "There are more than 4,000 residences reliant on the West Plains Aquifer," she said, and she asserted that "more than 57% of the domestic wells down gradient from the Spokane International Airport are contaminated with PFAS," which she attributed to firefighting foam and to airport operations. McHugh asked the board to "include the West Plains on the aquifer protection ballot" and urged outreach to Airway Heights, Medical Lake, Cheney and other local jurisdictions.
McHugh also raised questions about potential conflicts of interest tied to airport oversight, citing long-term airport board service by an individual she named and mentioning a commissioner family member; those claims were framed as citizen concerns during public comment and were not presented as board findings.
Commissioners did not take action during the meeting; McHugh said there is currently no short- or long-term West Plains Aquifer Protection Action proposed by any Spokane County governing body. Her remarks and submitted materials were entered into the meeting record for commissioners to review.
