Some Centralia area residents living in the Fords Prairie neighborhood near Centralia High School and the banks of the Chehalis River are now questioning whether it's safe to drink the water coming from their own taps.
Recent testing from wells in the area has shown dangerously high levels of nitrates in the water, but questions now remain, specifically what is causing it and how it can be remedied.
More than a dozen residents were in attendance at the Centralia City Council meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 10, to voice their concerns over the contamination as both city and Lewis County staff were on hand for a presentation on the issue.
The neighborhood is in Centralia’s urban growth area, meaning the city is in an interlocal agreement with Lewis County for jurisdiction in the area. The county is ultimately responsible under the current agreement.
Currently, both city and county officials are working with neighborhood residents to test more wells on private property throughout the neighborhood, trying to pinpoint the source of the nitrate contamination in the area’s ground water.
High nitrate levels in water are dangerous, especially to infants and adults with pre-existing health issues, as the nitrates can cause methemoglobinemia, also known as blue baby syndrome, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
With blue baby syndrome, the nitrates are converted to nitrite in the stomach, which prevents red blood cells from carrying oxygen, leading to bluish skin discoloration due to low blood oxygen levels.
This can cause a number of symptoms ranging from neurological development issues for infants to pale skin, fatigue, headaches, nausea, vomiting and more for adults.
Chronic nitrate exposure can also lead to increased cancer risk and possible birth defects.
As for what can cause high nitrate levels in water, it can be triggered by a range of factors from industrial waste, fertilizers, animal waste, wastewater and more.
And while many of the residents in Fords Prairie do have septic tanks, they believe there is another source aside from the possibility of wastewater leaking from their septic tanks, as resident Amy White told the council during the public comment session.
Through her own investigation, White stated city staff told her they had actually been seeing increasing nitrate levels in a monitoring well northwest of Fords Prairie going back to 2015.
“The wells at (Fort) Borst Park are pure, I was told, so that showed city water that the contamination source was to the west of the park,” White said. “What large source could there possibly be on Fords Prairie? Well how about a 240-acre game farm, raising 40-to-45,000 birds every year. Do the math. That many birds produce around 200 pounds of poop every day.”
White was referring to the Washington state Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (WDFW) Bob Oke Game Farm, which is located south of Centralia High School along Mt. Vista Road.
She claimed staff told her the likely cause of the nitrate levels was leaking septic tanks, but stated her own was well-maintained and not leaking.
White also recalled how shortly after she moved to the neighborhood in 2004, the game farm euthanized its entire flock to prevent the spread of disease to wild birds in the area, and the tens of thousands of dead birds were simply “buried on site,” on top of other questionable farming practices she’s observed.
The game farm breeds and raises pheasants for hunters. It is named after the late Washington state Sen. Bob Oke. Originally opened in the 1950s as the Lewis County Game Farm, it was renamed the Bob Oke Game Farm in 2006 and is almost completely funded by WDFW pheasant hunting license fees, according to previous reporting by The Chronicle.
Following public comment, Centralia Public Works Director Kim Ashmore and Lewis County Public Health & Social Services Director Meja Handlen gave a presentation addressing what the city and county know about the nitrate problem so far and what the next steps are in addressing this issue.
According to Ashmore, Centralia staff have been testing wells in Fords Prairie since 1981 and did notice nitrate levels increasing in the area from 2017 to 2019 — where an increase of 2.8 to 3.42 milligrams per liter was observed.
The maximum allowable limit of nitrate levels in water is 10 milligrams per liter, according to the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, while state law mandates increased monitoring be conducted if the level rises above 5 milligrams per liter.
“We started looking at what are potential contaminants out there besides septic tanks and stormwater catch basins, things like that,” Ashmore said.
Then a monitoring well on Mt. Vista Road directly next to the Bob Oke Game Farm showed much higher levels starting in 2023 — first at 8.0 milligrams per liter and rising to 9.18 milligrams per liter.
The city also drilled another monitoring well at the corner of Mt. Vista and Eshom roads in late 2023. Test results from that well have ranged from 9.12 milligrams per liter to well above the allowable limit at 30.8 milligrams per liter this year.
“That’s when we invited Lewis County into this discussion,” Ashmore said.
He added wells on private property have also been tested in the neighborhood, all with nitrate levels above 10 milligrams per liter.
According to Handlen, the main areas of concern the county has are residences located on Mayberry, Rancho, Eshom, Prill, Mt. Vista, Cowlitz and Pheasant roads along with some residences on Borst Avenue.
“This is an area of concern and impact of about 70 homes,” Handlen said. “When we look at this map, we want to be really cognizant of a plume zone.”
Tests on Centralia High School’s water supply did not find high levels of nitrates.
Handlen stated that Centralia’s drinking water aquifer is shallow with loose overlaying soils, making it vulnerable to nitrate contamination, and historically nitrate has always been present throughout the entire aquifer.
As for what happens next, Handlen said she is working to try to get more residents in the area to allow for testing in private wells.
So far, they have notified 70 private well owners in the area, tested 28 wells and are now monitoring 20 wells in Fords Prairie, with “about 10 that are private wells that have very high (nitrate) levels.”
While results were still inconclusive, high nitrate levels appear to be clustered in an area generally downgradient of the monitoring well at the corner of Mt. Vista and Eshom roads — mainly from residences on Mayberry Road.
“We don’t have all the data for everybody on, say Mayberry (Road), and that’s what we really need, to show all the homes together,” Handlen said.
Once more testing is conducted and the contamination source is identified, then work can begin on remedying this issue, Handlen added.
In addition to more testing to pinpoint the source of the nitrate contamination, county and city staff are working to fund installation of under-sink nitrate filters for residents, with $41,600 coming from a Washington state Department of Health grant, pending grant approval next month.
Ashmore added the city has been in contact with both state legislators and the WDFW about this issue, and is planning a community town hall meeting next week.
“Everybody’s aware of the issue and we’re all trying to find what is the right solution, but as Meja said, we need a little bit more data,” Ashmore said.
While he didn’t announce the exact time, Ashmore said he was in talks with Centralia High School staff to utilize a room on Thursday, Dec. 19, for the town hall meeting, “sometime around 6:30 p.m.”
An announcement will be made once the town hall meeting details have been finalized.
