“What would you do if you discovered a state agency was contributing to contamination of drinking water?”
This was one of the pointed questions state Rep. Peter Abbarno, R-Chehalis, asked the House Environment and Energy committee Thursday morning at the State Capitol.
A bill he and others are hoping to push through the House of Representatives this session is inspired by a crisis faced by the Fords Prairie neighborhood near Centralia for at least the last year, one that has rendered the water of many homes undrinkable without special filtration. Dangerous levels of nitrates have penetrated the groundwater and can contribute to serious health problems.
Abbarno’s solution, House Bill 2343, ups the standards for state-operated game farms concerning pollution monitoring and planning, requiring them to have the same permits as those that are privately operated. It appeared in its first committee hearing Thursday morning.
The bill comes in direct response to nitrate contamination in Centralia area groundwater.
The cause is largely suspected to be the Bob Oke Game Farm, where thousands of pheasants are raised by the Washington state Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) each year.
Abbarno and many local officials and residents have asked the WDFW to relocate the game farm, but Abbarno says this bill is about holding the state to the same standards as private industry whether the game farm is relocated or not.
“I support relocating the game farm. I do. Away from the critical aquifer,” Abbarno said. “But at a minimum, what this bill does is say the state should comply with these strict water regulations.”
The bill sponsored by Abbarno and fellow 20th District lawmaker Ed Orcutt, R-Kalama, would require game farms operated by WDFW to have a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation permit (CAFO) in certain situations.
The bill states that a CAFO permit for these facilities must include a manure prevention plan, regular monitoring of water quality, and other steps to manage the potential for groundwater contamination from a state-operated game farm.
According to a legislative briefing on the bill, these permits are already required of large privately-owned game farms depending on the number and type of livestock or for smaller facilities that have been identified as a significant contributor to pollution or contamination.
WDFW Program Deputy Director Cynthia Wilkerson informed the committee that her department has recently secured the permits for Bob Oke Game Farm that would be required for the facility under the bill.
After multiple public meetings in Centralia and a 2025 study linking the game farm that houses thousands of pheasants to high nitrate levels in the area’s groundwater, WDFW has adapted some of its practices at the farm, including allowing the birds to spend less time in outdoor pens above the game farm. The facility has also received the CAFO permit that this bill would require of game farms that size including a manure management plan and more.
City and county officials from Centralia and Lewis County, as well as a resident of the affected Fords Prairie neighborhood, joined Abbarno to testify in front of the House Environment and Energy Committee Thursday morning. All urged the committee to support the bill. A representative from WDFW also spoke and signed in as “other.”
Centralia Mayor Norm Chapman and Public Works Director Andy Oien were two of the first to testify on the bill during the hearing and expressed the importance that the state is held to the same standards already in place for privately operated farms to avoid contamination that their area has seen in the future.
Oien added that a nitrate investigation conducted in March of last year confirmed that manure generated by the pheasant farm in Centralia, more often called the Bob Oke Game Farm, is a direct and primary source of nitrate loading.
Two Lewis County Public Health and Social Services officials spoke about the public health risks of high nitrate levels in drinking water.
“From a public health perspective nitrate above the standard is a serious concern for infants under one year of age and pregnant individuals,” Jeff Landrum, environmental health specialist, said. “It can be called methemoglobinemia or blue baby syndrome. It can develop quickly and be life threatening.”
Amy White, a resident of the Mayberry Road area, which has been among the areas near Centralia to face the highest nitrate levels to private wells, testified in support of the bill and shared her personal experience.
“I understand the challenges of limited budgets having worked for the state for more than 40 years myself, but publicly owned institutions need to be held to the same standard that privately owned operators of livestock operations [are],” White said. “My neighbors are worried about the health effects long term and worried about the value of their homes. Their homes are basically worthless without clean drinking water.”
The committee did not ask any immediate questions of those who testified, but the bill is scheduled for executive session in the committee next week on Friday, Jan. 29. At that time, it will likely be put to a vote by committee members who will decide if the legislation will advance to the next step of the legislative process.
The bill also has a companion bill, the Washington state Senate Bill 6088, sponsored by the other member of the 20th District delegation, state Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia. However, the companion bill has not yet been scheduled for a hearing, and, according to Abbarno, it's most likely that the House version will be the best chance at passing the policy changes meant to prevent future nitrate contamination.
