His obstruction–and his stock portfolio–suggest he does not
Spokane County Commissioner Al French is up against a formidable, community-centered, science-supporting opponent, Lt Col (Ret.) Molly Marshall, in the upcoming November General Election. For an immensely powerful elected official like Al French, a consummate politician, to accuse his opponent of “political attacks” over the deadly serious issue of PFAS contamination of our drinking water is richly ironic. It is time for a change.
The PFAS Issue
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)—also referred to a “forever chemicals”—are a risk factor for the development of a number of cancers. Two PFAS chemicals, PFOS and PFOA, are major constituents of fire-fighting foams used in training exercises at airports nationwide for decades, including Fairchild Air Force Base (FAFB) and Spokane International Airport (SIA) west of Spokane.
In 2017 PFAS chemicals were detected in high concentrations in the municipal water supply of the City of Airway Heights. PFAS from Fairchild Air Force Base had leached into the groundwater and into the municipal wells. FAFB owned up to its role in the contamination. Airway Heights officials scrambled to connect their municipal water system, via wells maintained by the City of Spokane, to the purer water of the Spokane Valley–Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer underlying Spokane and points east and northeast.
But that was not the end of it. Seepage of contaminants in ground water does not respect municipal boundaries. Testing of private wells providing water for drinking, for livestock and for gardens for households outside of Airway Heights also began turning up high levels of PFAS contamination. Based on the hydrogeology of Spokane County’s west plains, Fairchild Air Force Base took some responsibility for the PFAS contamination for wells west of Hayford Road, a north-south dividing line east of FAFB, but drew the line there.
Spokane International Airport’s Silence
Spokane International Airport had found high levels of PFAS in test wells on its property in 2017. This was an entirely logical finding considering that SIA had, like FAFB, used PFAS-containing Aqueous Fire-Fighting Films (AFFFs) for decades—but SIA remained silent. Down-channel from SIA (east of Hayford Road) people drawing water from private wells for domestic use were left to wonder about their well water or to pony up hundreds of dollars to have it tested.
“Spokane International Airport”, like similar entities, has neither an ass to kick nor a soul to damn. The actions and declarations of “Spokane International Airport” are really the actions and declarations of the people most intimately involved in running the Airport. Spokane County Commissioner Al French is a prominent member and sometimes chairman of the Board of SIA, a vocal supporter of SIA’s CEO, Larry Krauter, and a tireless promoter of property development out on Spokane’s west plains.
For seven years Mr. French not only remained mostly silent on the PFAS issue, but he worked behind the scenes to stymie efforts to study the extent of PFAS contamination east of Hayford Road.
Many have suggested that Commissioner French stood in the way of disclosing PFAS-contaminated test wells at SIA and sought regulatory relief from PFAS regulations for pecuniary reasons. French and real estate development interests connected to SIA and to S3R3, a private-public entity in which Mr. French also figures prominently, were thought to be guarding their interests, while hoping the issue would just go away.
There may be a deeper conviction at work here. Adept politicians like Mr. French would never come right out and declare disdain for scientific evidence of harm to human health or the environment. Even if that were their firm belief, it would be impolitic to own it.
But what do Mr. French and many of his like Republican politicians really think about the science? Here it is useful to inspect a little used resource that is publicly available at the tips of your fingers, the candidate financial statements at the Public Disclosure Commission’s website, pdc.wa.gov. (See the link “Financial Affairs Report” on the candidate’s page you can locate by exploring “For Voters and the Public”. )
Commissioner French’s financial affairs statement for calendar year 2023discloses (among other investments) his holdings of individual stocks of thirteen companies and one Exchanged Traded Fund (ETF). He holds stock in Chemours, DuPont and Corteva, three of four chemical companies (3M is the fourth) that have reached billion dollar agreements to settle claims concerning PFAS contamination. He also owns Dow Chemical stock, another flagship of the chemical industry. In a nod to his confidence that climate change isn’t an imminent threat worthy of concern, Mr. French also holds stock in the fossil fuel companies Phillips 66, Conoco-Phillips, and Chevron and a stake in XLE, a fossil fuel based ETF. All told, those chemical and fossil-fuel stocks comprise more than half of Mr. French’s stock portfolio.
Would a man with such lopsided stock ownership be inclined to take seriously a science-based assessment of a threat to human health of low concentrations of PFAS chemicals in drinking water? One must suspect that Mr. French’s actions around PFAS contamination speak of the same denial of the significance of PFAS as he holds for the threat of climate change.
We cannot afford to keep such people in office. Vote for Molly Marshall for District 5 Spokane County Commissioner this November.
Keep to the high ground,
Jerry