Timeline of PFAS cleanup near Fairchild quietly pushed back 6 years

By Natalie Grant | KXLY | January 30, 2026

Read the full article by Natalie Grant (KXLY.com).

“AIRWAY HEIGHTS, Wash — The federal government has quietly pushed back its timeline for cleaning up PFAS contamination on Spokane’s west plains by six years, leaving thousands of homeowners without answers about when their water will be safe.

The Department of Defense was supposed to deliver a cleanup plan by July 2026, but that deadline has quietly been moved to June 2032, according to a table released by the Department of Defense of in March of 2025.

The delay affects approximately 4,000 homes near Fairchild Air Force Base and Spokane International Airport that have dealt with PFAS contamination in their groundwater since 2017.

‘Well, it’s been so long since 2017 of talking about it investigating, discussing but yet not a drop of PFAS has yet been scooped up out of the ground or at the water,’ said John Hancock, president of the West Plains Water Coalition and a resident whose home is impacted by the contamination.”…

This content provided by the PFAS Project.