Deer Creek Springs Critical Aquifer Recharge Area

Project description

The EEC is currently focused on reducing the risk of PFAS “forever chemicals” entering into the Deer Creek aquifer and contaminating a drinking water source for Olympic View Water and Sewer District. Olympic View supplies water for Edmonds south of 220th and all of Woodway. OVWSD has 5,075 water customers. 85% of these customers live in Edmonds.

The EEC seeks revisions to the City of Edmonds Critical Area Code, specifically the Critical Aquifer Recharge Area code, that should prohibit the use of all types of Underground Injection Control wells, in all CARAs within Edmonds.

PFAS laden stormwater runoff inside the two Edmonds CARAs should be removed through the city’s underground stormwater system. If no underground stormwater infrastructure exists, it should be built, or contaminated stormwater must be filtered. Filtering must follow State or Federally approved methods to remove the PFAS chemicals below threshold levels before it is allowed to enter the groundwater.

Alternatively, a moratorium on the use of UIC wells inside CARAs and their adjoining buffers, could be enacted until proven removal methods are adopted.

The Deer Creek CARA is of particular concern, as the water storage layer is exposed at the surface. This compacted, clean, sandy soil; deposited at the end of the last Ice Age, is the storage medium for the aquifer. The storage layer is called Advance outwash (Qva). This Qva layer is normally buried deeply underground and protected by other alluvial soils deposited over it. These soils help to filter the surface water as it soaks into the ground and recharges the aquifer. The Deer Creek CARA has no natural filtering protections.

In April 2024, new federal limits for these per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS “forever chemicals”, were substantially reduced to only 4 parts per trillion. The Washington State Growth Management Act specifically requires the protection of all CARAs. The City of Edmonds is currently allowing PFAS contaminated water to enter into the Deer Creek CARA. This represents a substantial risk to public health and safety.

The City of Edmonds Critical Area code must explicitly protect all CARAs within Edmonds. The CARA code should prohibit contaminated stormwater from entering the CARAs and adjoining buffer zones. It is the only prudent and responsible thing to do.