Latest news with #GrantCountyInternationalAirport
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Moses Lake receives state money for upgrades of two wells
Jun. 2—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.
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Aircraft firefighting spring session starts May 1
Apr. 30—MOSES LAKE — Big Bend Community College will be hosting firefighters from throughout the Pacific Northwest at the spring session of the Aircraft Rescue Firefighting Program beginning May 1. College officials said that means people will be seeing smoke, sometimes a big black plume of it, from the area west of the Grant County International Airport. Tiffany Fondren, BBCC communications coordinator, said the program combines classroom instruction with training exercises. "Firefighting agencies will contract with the program to certify and re-certify," Fondren said. The facility has onsite simulators that allow firefighters to experience conditions that are as close to a genuine emergency as possible, she said. The passenger jet shell can be configured to reflect the chaos that would follow a crash and filled with smoke to make it even more challenging. Fuselage sections with doors can be set up to give firefighters experience getting damaged doors open. A fuselage section can be set aflame to mimic an engine fire. "It's basically very realistic, even though it's a controlled experience," Fondren said. Firefighters will be training through May 29, she said, and in previous springs, people have seen the smoke and thought it was a fire at the GCIA or a wildfire in the area. During May, however, it's likely it will actually be firefighting crews in training, she said.
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Port of Moses Lake OKs military training lease
Mar. 25—MOSES LAKE — Military training exercises will continue at a section of the Grant County International Airport following the approval of a 25-year lease between the Port of Moses Lake and the US government for use of a section of the airstrip. Port commissioners approved the agreement Monday. Port Executive Director Dan Roach said the lease payment will be about $10,600 per month. Airport Director Rich Mueller said the section of the airfield, known as the assault strip or the assault landing zone, provides a location for training and pilot certification that isn't readily available elsewhere. "There is a version of one at Joint Base Lewis McChord, but it is not to certification standards," Mueller said. "The next closest one is in California. That's why it's very important to the Air Force that we have this and keep it available. And for us as well, as they're one of our key customers. And of course, we used to be an Air Force base, so we're certainly not going to turn our back on our heritage." The assault strip is part of the airport's history; Commissioner Kent Jones said it was once a taxiway between the main runways. Now it's used to train pilots for challenging conditions. "Air Force C-17 pilots need to be able to land a fully loaded C-17, which comes in at almost 600,000 pounds, on a strip that's only 3,500 feet long and 90 feet wide. And they need to be able to do that anywhere in the world, day or night, good weather, bad weather, or pitch black or broad daylight. So that assault strip has been set up for every single one of those scenarios," Mueller said. The C-17s stationed at Joint Base Lewis McChord use the strip, he said, but the port has plenty of other customers for it. "Pilots not from Joint Base Lewis McChord, but all over the country and sometimes all over the country and sometimes all over the world, will come to our airport to train on that airstrip and receive their certification," Mueller said. It's also useful for — and used by — other military personnel. "We had a C-130 out of Texas here last week using (the) assault strip," Mueller said. "We have places on the airfield where parachute activity will happen, and they will load back up (at the assault landing zone). Also, they'll come in and practice loading and unloading equipment and personnel there."
