33 Airway Heights area restaurants asked to keep city water out of food and beverages.
The Spokane Regional Health District contacted 33 retail food businesses west of Hayford Road, said Lisa Breen, the food program technical adviser.
“The onus is put on the operators to be doing what they should be doing,” she said.
Restaurants are able to wash dishes with the contaminated water, Breen said.
Breen said the Health District did not contact wholesale food and beverage production facilities because they do not license them.
Read our coverage of the developing water contamination issues that have caused all residents within the Airway Heights city limits to be advised to avoid drinking and cooking with city tap water amid findings chemical contamination at Fairchild Air Force Base threatened purity of residential wells.
He hopes the City of Airway Heights reimburses him for the cost, so he’s saving the receipts.
The food safety issue is further complicated because the perfluorinated chemicals in question are not regulated by the federal government, meaning there isn’t a clear next step.
The Environmental Protection Agency is considering whether or not to regulate the chemical, Coleman said.
There is some discussion at the state level about whether or not Washington should create its own regulations ahead of the federal government, she said.