State lawmakers and the mayor of Centralia are demanding immediate action by the Washington state Department of Fish and Wildlife and the WDFW-operated Bob Oke Game Farm as concerns continue to grow regarding dangerously high nitrate levels in a Centralia aquifer.
About 60 people attended a town hall at the Centralia High School Performing Arts Center Monday, March 24, including officials from the City of Centralia, Lewis County and the WDFW, along with the Mott MacDonald consulting firm.
State Rep. Peter Abbarno, R-Centralia, and Rep. Ed Orcutt, R-Kalama, also attended and expressed their concerns for the game farm’s role in the nitrate contamination.
The game farm, located adjacent to Centralia High School along Mt. Vista Road, appears to be the leading suspect for the high nitrate levels in wells in the Fords Prairie area, which came to the county’s attention in the fall of 2024, though earlier testing had indicated nitrate levels were rising.
The area of concern is in the urban growth area, technically outside Centralia limits, but it is contiguous with city limits and is managed through an interlocal agreement between Centralia and Lewis County. According to county officials, the main areas of concern are residences located on Mayberry, Rancho, Eshom, Prill, Mt. Vista, Cowlitz and Pheasant roads, along with some residences on Borst Avenue, about 70 homes in total. Centralia High School is connected to the city’s water and is not facing concerns over nitrates.
Results from a Mott McDonald groundwater study in early 2025 indicated that the highest concentration of nitrates was found in the monitoring well installed in January 2025 on the game farm property, with levels reaching 39.4 milligrams per liter — nearly four times the maximum allowable limit of 10 milligrams per liter.
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.
High nitrate levels in water can be triggered by a range of sources, including industrial waste, fertilizer, animal waste wastewater and more.
The Bob Oke Game Farm breeds and raises between 40,000 and 45,000 pheasants each year and is almost completely funded by WDFW pheasant hunting license fees.
The farm changed some of its farming practices and removed some bird manure to reduce nitrate loading, according to materials handed out at a Dec. 19, 2024, town hall meeting. But Chris White, WDFW pheasant release program specialist, told the crowd Monday that the agency and the game farm staff will be taking further steps for the 2025 hunting season.
The farm will reduce the number of birds raised at the facility by approximately 40%, White said, and 100% of adult birds located over the most productive part of the aquifer. It will also reduce the amount of time chicks have access to that part of the aquifer.
But elected officials, including Abbarno and Centralia Mayor Kelly Smith Johnston, believe the mitigation efforts must be more comprehensive if the water is to improve in a more timely manner. Their comments came after Mott McDonald senior hydrogeologist Glenn Mutti-Driscoll told attendees that the estimated travel time for the groundwater nitrate improvements north of the high school would be seven to 19 years based on groundwater flow and precipitation, among other factors.
“It seems that the data is showing that the pheasant farm is the primary contributor to the nitrates in the water,” Smith Johnston said. “I feel like one of the fundamental responsibilities in government is to protect the quality of life for our people. In this case, a government agency is contributing to the deterioration of the quality of life. I don’t understand why we’re not talking about a land swap and immediately moving the game farm from where it is over our aquifer. You said it’s seven to 19 years for these things to work their way out. Any action we take now, we’re still looking at seven to 19 years before our aquifers are improved.
“These folks can’t wait seven to 19 years. As long as the game farm is there, I understand the mitigation, but it seems like there’s still a risk to this aquifer,” she continued.
White responded that the agency is open to all ideas, including a land swap, but that hunting is still a priority.
“Right now, there’s no birds on the facility. We feel this is a really good precautionary approach to eliminate (birds) on that part of the aquifer, and our experts agree with that,” he said.
Abbarno and Orcutt took offense to WDFW officials continuing to prioritize providing hunting services despite the threat to the aquifer. Abbarno said the agency is liable for the decrease in the quality of life for residents of the approximately 70 affected homes and that the WDFW didn’t want to do a land swap when it was previously discussed.
“The idea that this is about hunting versus the health of our community are mutually exclusive. The state of Washington will be fine. We can raise pheasants in other places, and we’ve offered,” he said. “To bring up hunting as an excuse for not moving this is not acceptable.”
Orcutt requested that WDFW look into suitable alternative sites that it already owns for the game farm and that he receive the information within the next two weeks.
WDFW Director Kelly Susewind responded that a large-scale move for the animals is possible.
Orcutt told agency officials that a constituent contacted him to voice concerns about whether the game farm would be fully funded and if pheasants would still be available this season, and when Orcutt informed them of the water issue, the constituent said it needed to be taken care of.
“That’s from a hunter who cares about pheasant hunting and who cares about the production from WDFW. That’s not a good reason not to do something about it or not to do a land swap,” Orcutt said.
Smith Johnston asked WDFW officials if they would close the game farm, and Deputy Director Cynthia Wilkerson responded by saying, “We don’t have an answer to that in this moment. It may be that we do (close). We don’t have enough to say we need to completely close the game farm in this moment.”
Wilkerson added that officials have asked if there would still be a risk to the aquifer if there was no game farm, and she said the experts have answered “yes,” which drew wide disagreement from the crowd.
Another potential source for the nitrates discussed throughout recent meetings have been faulty septic tanks. Susewind said even functioning septic tanks emit nitrates, and county officials noted that Centralia has had septic failures in the past and that a short-term action will be to continue evaluation and transition of septic systems.
While many of the residents in the Fords Prairie and Waunch Prairie areas of Centralia have septic tanks, some in attendance said their tanks were not problematic based on their own testing. County officials suggested that residents prove that through a septic evaluation, of which the county has four available for free through the Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC). County code says all septic systems must be evaluated every three years.
Lewis County is also accepting applications for a point-of-use water treatment system, a reverse osmosis filter certified to meet water quality standards for nitrate removal. Officials admitted that the faucet would only be installed underneath a sink counter into a kitchen or bathroom faucet line, leaving the water throughout the rest of the house untreated.
But as the county, Centralia and WDFW work with the Washington state Department of Ecology (DOE), Department of Health (DOH) and local legislators for funding sources, affected residents in attendance Monday were surveyed on their interest in Centralia water and sewer connections to their homes, if fully funded. The survey asks participants if they live on Mayberry, Rancho or Karla Court, or if they live on another street but within the nitrate concern area along the Centralia Outwash Gravel Aquifer, a highly productive shallow aquifer that the city relies on for water supply.
The county is set to receive Alternative Drinking Water Program Grant funding through the DOH to fund the reserve osmosis filtration systems, Lewis County Environmental Services Manager Kirsten Wecker said. This grant will fund the reverse osmosis filtration systems, and Wecker said affected residents will soon receive a phone call to schedule under-sink installation.
“We’re really excited about this. It’s finally coming to fruition,” she said, adding that applicants must provide a water sample with nitrate levels at or above 10 milligrams per liter. “We really want you guys to have that nice, safe, healthy water.”
Officials from the county, the city, the DOE, the DOH and the RCAC met on March 6 to discuss funding options for remediation efforts. Wecker said the DOE has up to $500,000 available to assist with utility connections but not the infrastructure, and she added the city would have to apply for grants to receive that. The DOH also has up to $30,000 available for nitrate remediation projects for source water protection.
As for next steps, the city and county will collaborate to bring water filters to affected residences, continue quarterly water sampling and evaluating septic systems, and apply for grants and supplemental funding.
Smith Johnston told The Chronicle after the meeting that she appreciated the urgency shown by Abbarno and Orcutt but was “very disappointed” in the representation from the WDFW and their “seeming lack of urgency around something as fundamental as safe drinking water.”
Abbarno told The Chronicle after the meeting that, as a member of the state’s capital budget team, one of his primary goals is to provide the funding necessary to protect the community in both the short- and long-term future. He recommended that the WDFW reconsider a potential land swap.
“Early on, we knew that the pheasant farm had the potential for creating a liability in the city. Obviously, we didn’t have a lot of information, but when I was with the city council, we had discussions with the WDFW about potentially doing a land swap or finding a new location for it,” Abbarno said. “Those were not fruitful. Now, we actually do have that evidence, and I think it’s ever more important that we act quickly to protect the community today and the residents of the future.”
Centralia City Councilor Mark Westley, whose district includes the affected area, urged community members to contact their local elected officials about the issue during the council’s Tuesday, March 25, meeting.
“This happens to be right in the middle of ward four that I represent, and I hear about this regularly. The voice of the people can ring loud and clear and make a difference,” he said. “It would be wonderful if each and every one of our citizens and residents would somehow make contact with the WDFW and keep putting pressure on them until a resolution that we’re satisfied with comes to fruition.”
