Moses Lake receives state money for upgrades of two wells

MOSES LAKE — Two wells in Moses Lake will receive a combined $982,000 in rehabilitation and upgrades with the help of the state capital budget. Moses Lake Mayor Dustin Swartz said it’s work that needs to be done. 

“There’s an element of deferred maintenance,” Swartz said.  

The city received $810,000 to address contamination in one well and $172,000 for a new pump for a second well. Swartz said the goal in one case is to improve water quality, and in the second case, increase the well’s efficiency, and make water use in general more efficient.  

Swartz said the $810,000 will go toward eliminating possible PFAS – a group of chemicals that resist grease, oil, water and heat according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration – contamination in Well 29, located near the Grant County International Airport. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, PFAS are widely used in industry and take a long time to break down.  

To date research has shown that exposure to certain levels of PFAS can have harmful health effects, according to the EPA website, although research is continuing into “how harmful PFAS are to people and the environment.” 

The airport is the site of the Larson Air Force Base, where PFAS chemicals were in use for more than a decade. The chemicals are present in Well 29, at least intermittently. Swartz said city officials regularly test for PFAS. 

“The odd thing about PFAS contamination is that it’s sporadic,” Swartz said.  

Sometimes the well meets the EPA criteria for drinking water for five individual chemicals, which is four to 10 parts per trillion, depending on the chemical. The well is tested for combinations of chemicals and sometimes it meets the criteria. Sometimes it doesn’t. 

“Full disclosure, we’ve exceeded those levels,” Swartz said.  

Tests on Well 29 have detected up to 50 parts per trillion, he said.  

According to state drinking water regulations, 10 ppt is the maximum allowed for water to be considered potable.  

City officials want to keep operating Well 29, Swartz said. 

“This well is a much better producer and has a more sustainable water supply,” he said. 

As a result, city officials want to add more filtration at the wellhead to allow the well to stay in use. 

“We’re already taking steps to clean it up,” Swartz said. 

Well 17 needs a new pump, and Swartz said city officials want to make it more sustainable and more efficient. The money will be used to design the new installation and to pay at least some of the costs of construction, Swartz said.  

“Water is something we’re very conscious about now,” he said. 

Water availability will become more important as Moses Lake continues to grow, Swartz said, and city officials want to ensure an adequate water supply. 

“We don’t want to slow that (growth) down,” he said. 

The money was allocated in the state’s capital budget, which, said Representative Tom Dent, R-Moses Lake, is for capital projects, as its name implies. 

“The tangible things. That’s what the capital budget is for,” Dent said. 

Each legislator is allowed to submit requests for money, which come from constituents, in Dent’s case, from the 13th Legislative District. 

“I can’t tell you how many capital budget requests I had. A lot,” Dent said. 

That requires legislators to make some choices. Moses Lake received all the money it requested for the two well projects, Sen. Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, said that for her, it was a pretty easy decision.

“I have no problem funding and supporting those types of projects. Any issues with water, that’s a passion of mine,” she said.