Environment Archives – Page 2 of 4

‘A Band-Aid on a sucking chest wound’

By Aaron Hedge ● Environment ● July 12, 2024

Unhoused people have found official support during heat waves inadequate, so some have decided to offer support themselves.

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How to help in the heat wave

By Erin Sellers & Pascal Bostic ● Environment ● July 9, 2024

We want you to stay cool, stay safe and care for your community in the heat. Volunteers are needed, plus donations of bottled water, hydration packs and fans.

Heat wave: five fans of various types are shown in front of a photo of the Riverfront Park clock tower with an orange sky in the background to illustrate a heat wave.

In Spokane’s heat wave, seniors and the unhoused are most at risk

By Elena Perry ● Environment ● July 9, 2024

How to look for signs of heat exhaustion in those who are vulnerable during the Inland Northwest heat wave.

Al French’s PFAS pipe dream

By Aaron Hedge ● Environment ● June 19, 2024

After years of silence on West Plains ‘forever chemicals’ — and with an election looming — County Commissioner Al French has promised to pipe water to ‘everybody’ with a contaminated well, but his plan is thin on detail. Meanwhile, he’s known about the contamination since 2017.

Community demands solutions as Fairchild reckons with new PFAS contamination rule

By Aaron Hedge ● Environment ● June 15, 2024

For years, the air force base relied on a now-outdated standard for ‘forever chemicals’ to assure West Plains well owners they were out of harm’s way. The EPA has established a much lower, legally-binding drinking water limit for PFAS, and Fairchild’s water provision program will likely expand.

A pile of rubble ignited by the Gray Fire is still smoldering

By Aaron Hedge ● Environment ● April 11, 2024

As the blaze devastated Medical Lake last year, it also lit a pile of demolition debris on the campus of a state psychiatric hospital. DSHS officials say it occasionally flares but is not a threat to public safety or health.

What Lies Beneath

By Aaron Hedge ● Environment ● February 1, 2024

After more than 6 years of patchwork testing and remediation of a chemical spill no one truly knows the scale of, a new water program will greatly expand the testing area and get a more holistic picture of the poison in West Plains wells.

Airport CEO: Lawmakers should ‘wait and see’ before banning toxic PFAS

By Aaron Hedge ● Environment ● January 17, 2024

The Airport has known about the ‘forever chemicals’ contamination in West Plains groundwater for 6 years. Rather than telling the public — even when required by law — CEO Larry Krauter and other officials quietly lobbied against regulation of the chemicals

Poisoning the wells

By Aaron Hedge ● Environment ● December 7, 2023

Forever chemicals have made groundwater unsafe across the West Plains. Spokane International Airport officials knew for years they were partly to blame, but kept it quiet.

What are ‘forever chemicals,’ and why are they in our water?

By Aaron Hedge ● Environment ● December 7, 2023

Widely used in many products, including firefighting compounds mandated for use at airports (like Spokane’s) and military bases (like Fairchild). They deplete slowly and are linked with serious health problems, including cancer