Fairchild Air Force Base sits on 4,300 acres in Spokane County, Washington. It was added to the National Priorities List on March 13, 1989, after an initial assessment in February 1987. The base has four waste areas totaling 85 acres, divided into nine operable units (OUs) to manage different types of contamination and geography. Physical cleanup is not yet complete, and the site has not been deleted from the National Priorities List.
Contamination came from past disposal of solvents, paint wastes, plating sludge, and industrial wastes. Hazardous chemicals spread into groundwater, soil, sediment, soil gas, sludge, and liquid waste. Key contaminants include trichloroethene, benzene, carbon tetrachloride, chloroform, tetrachloroethene, and chloroethene (vinyl chloride), along with metals such as cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury, silver, and zinc. Petroleum products, diesel range organics, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are also present. The greatest health risk comes from ingesting or contacting contaminated groundwater, or inhaling vapors from that groundwater inside buildings above the plume. Human exposure is not currently under control across the entire site, and contaminated groundwater continues to move.
The U.S. Air Force is responsible for site remediation, with the EPA serving as the lead regulatory agency under CERCLA (the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act). Cleanup actions since 1993 have included residential well monitoring, landfill capping, groundwater treatment and containment, soil excavation and landfarming, soil vapor extraction, chemical oxidation, and enhanced bioremediation. Several OUs have finished remedial action work. The Craig Road Landfill and two priority areas completed work in the 1990s. The SR-939 Munitions Site completed remedial action in July 2023. The TCE groundwater remedy in one area reached construction completion in December 2020 and is now in performance monitoring. Other areas remain active. OU08 completed initial remedial action in July 2024 but has additional work estimated to finish between April and June 2027. A Phase 1 Remedial Investigation into PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) contamination is underway, with investigation and feasibility studies estimated to conclude between February and April 2027 and remedial design and action work scheduled through 2028.
A five-year review completed in September 2023 found that response actions are in accordance with EPA's selected remedy and are protective in the short term. Long-term protection requires completing remedial objectives for remaining areas and strengthening land use controls off-site to prevent exposure to contaminated groundwater. The next five-year review is estimated for September through November 2028.
EPA and Air Force representatives held a public open house on April 8, 2026 at the Shriners Event Center in Spokane to answer questions about the PFAS investigation. The Fairchild AFB Restoration Advisory Board, established in 1994, meets regularly with about 15 community members and regulatory representatives. Additional information is available on the Fairchild Air Force Base website (fairchild.af.mil/Information/Restoration) and the Washington Department of Ecology's cleanup website (ecology.wa.gov/spills-cleanup).
