Preliminary geospatial distribution of PFAS in the West Plains, Spokane County, Washington
Faculty Mentor
Chad Pritchard
Presentation Type
Poster
Start Date
May 2025
End Date
May 2025
Location
PUB NCR
Primary Discipline of Presentation
Geosciences
Abstract
Groundwater samples collected in the West Plains, Spokane County by the EPA and EWU were analyzed for PFAS using EPA Method 533. An attempt was made to gather well depths and well logs from the wells sampled, but not all residences had a Water Well Report as many wells pre-date this regulation. Using PFAS results and well depths/aquifers concentration maps were made of the West Plains to show distribution of PFOS and PFHxS to see possible extents of contamination associated with high-temperature firefighting foam (AFFF) as well as PFOA, PFBS, and the PFAS Hazard Index (HI) for contamination associated with general commercial items, eg. automotive fluids, septic systems. Concentration maps were made for each aquifer, as well as a general HI distribution for all aquifers.
Recommended Citation
Slanga, Emersen A., "Preliminary geospatial distribution of PFAS in the West Plains, Spokane County, Washington" (2025). 2025 Symposium. 4.
https://dc.ewu.edu/srcw_2025/ps_2025/p1_2025/4
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Preliminary geospatial distribution of PFAS in the West Plains, Spokane County, Washington
PUB NCR
Groundwater samples collected in the West Plains, Spokane County by the EPA and EWU were analyzed for PFAS using EPA Method 533. An attempt was made to gather well depths and well logs from the wells sampled, but not all residences had a Water Well Report as many wells pre-date this regulation. Using PFAS results and well depths/aquifers concentration maps were made of the West Plains to show distribution of PFOS and PFHxS to see possible extents of contamination associated with high-temperature firefighting foam (AFFF) as well as PFOA, PFBS, and the PFAS Hazard Index (HI) for contamination associated with general commercial items, eg. automotive fluids, septic systems. Concentration maps were made for each aquifer, as well as a general HI distribution for all aquifers.
