SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. — Forever chemicals have been detected in part of Spokane Valley’s water supply, but residents say they were never directly informed about the issue.
East Spokane Water District 1 found PFOS levels were 18.4 parts per trillion liters of water, narrowly exceeding the state’s maximum threshold of 15 PPT. Those findings were made back in March.
“They should have sent out notice to everybody,” said Pat French, a local resident who was surprised to learn about the contamination.
PFAS, known as “forever chemicals,” have been linked to cancer and have been a significant issue in the West Plains area. This is the first time an excessive amount of the chemicals have been detected in the area.
The Department of Health says this level of contamination is not cause for immediate concern, but residents are frustrated about how the information was shared.
“It’s scary, you hear about it on TV. I don’t know anything about it actually other than it’s not good for you,” French said.
The water district posted a notice on its bulletin board outside the building and added a link on their website labeled “Notice to Drinking Water Customers.”
But no direct contact was made.
“They could put it on the bill. They send us a bill, they could put a notice on it,” French suggested.
The water company does includes messages at the bottom of customer bills; one resident showed that her recent bill from April, but rather than a contamination notice, it featured a motivational quote from General George Patton.
We asked manager East Spokane Water District 1 manager Jeff Edgmon why the agency didn’t email customers directly or leave notices on doors, Edgmon said they don’t have email addresses for all customers and physically notifying 1,500 clients would be a time-consuming effort.
According Edgmon, the contamination likely came from firefighting efforts several years ago when fire retardant was used to combat a wildfire on a nearby hill.
The East Spokane Water District plans to continue monthly water testing and will review the results by the end of July to determine next steps.
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