In my testimony on proposed Water Lily "Agrihood" Project before our St. Johns County Commission November 5, 2024 and before Special Magistrate J. Robert Traynor on July 25, 2025, I raised environmental, safety and health concerns about building some 3300 homes on top of potentially contaminated agricultural and silvicultural land used for 115 years, and raised the need for chemical testing, including testing for pesticides, fungicides, rodenticides and fertilizers. Add PFAs to the list. Do we need more thorough soil testing and analytical chemistry here in St. Johns County? You tell me, ladies and gentlemen. At neither hearing, there was no responsive testimony or argument from the developer, represented by 7th Circuit Court Judicial applicant ZACHARY WATSON MILLER, a developer lawyer, whose father is the project engineer, with hundreds of employees working for the engineering firm that he founded, ENGLAND-THIMS & MILLER.
From Tri-City Herald (Kennewick, Richland and Hanford, Washington):
Vista Field halts land sales after soil samples test positive for PFAs
Wendy Culverwell July 30, 2025 4:49 PM
KENNEWICK, WA The Port of Kennewick has paused sales at its prized Vista Field urban redevelopment site after soil samples from a construction site tested positive for hazardous materials. Tim Arntzen, executive director, said officials are moving quickly to confirm if PFAs — polyfluoroalkyl substances — are present in soil at the former municipal airport and if so, to what extent.
“We are disappointed that we are having to slow this down,” he told the Tri-City Herald. The positive test came after Community First Bank, which is financing construction of Columbia Point Eyecare’s new clinic at Vista Field, commissioned the soil testing, which Arntzen said is not standard for development sites. Blue Mountain Environmental Consultants carried out the work and advised the port that PFAs levels exceeded legal limits in three samples. The port hired Ogden Murphy Wallace PLLC, a law firm with experience in environmental clean up matters, to advise it.
It hired Landau Associates, a Seattle environmental consultant, to conduct further testing. It issued a public alert about the issue in early July. “We’re trying to get in front of this,” Arntzen said. Landau will begin testing soil samples from the eye clinic site and elsewhere at Vista Field on Aug. 18. Arntzen hopes to have initial results by Labor Day. In the interim, he’s halting port-related activities to protect people and the environment from potential exposure to PFAS. The Environmental Protection Agency says PFAs are widely-used, long-lasting chemicals found in water, soil and frequently in the blood of people and animals all over the world. Exposure can cause harmful health effects.
‘”I’m not putting people in ditches,” Arntzen said, referring to crews who dig trenches and lay utility lines. The Port of Kennewick has temporarily paused property sales at its Vista Field urban redevelopment site after hazardous materials were detected in soil samples at a construction site. Bob Brawdy bbrawdy@tricityherald.com Three sites sold to date The port has sold three sites at Vista Field as part of its vision to create an urban village with a mix of retail, residential and other uses.
All three have broken ground on buildings for their businesses and at least two additional deals are pending with developers who want to build projects at Vista. On Wednesday, activity at the eyecare clinic site on Azure Drive appeared paused. Construction seemed to be continuing normally at two other Vista Field construction sites. Kuki Izakaya Japanese Restaurant and Blueberry Bridal Boutique, both on Crosswind Boulevard. A sign for the Kuki Izakaya Restaurant at Vista Field in Kennewick. Bob Brawdy bbrawdy@tricityherald.com Arntzen said the port doesn’t have the authority to order a halt to construction. Even if it did, it doesn’t have enough information to make that kind of a call, he said.
The port has reported the situation to its partners, he said. The Port of Kennewick has temporarily paused property sales at its Vista Field urban redevelopment site after hazardous materials were detected in soil samples at a construction site. Assessed in 2014 The Port of Kennewick closed Vista Field to aviation at the end of 2013 after a protracted public debate, concluding it was too expensive to operate.
Based on public feedback, it laid out a plan to convert the 103 acres near Columbia Center into an urban village. Car drives south on Crosswind Boulevard in Vista Field in west Kennewick in February 2025. Bob Brawdy bbrawdy@tricityherald.com
In 2014, after airplanes stopped using the runway, the port commissioned a Phase 1 environmental review of the property in advance of redevelopment.
That included taking an extensive history of the use of the property — once a World War II Navy pilot training field — and identifying potential problem areas for further testing. Arntzen said It cleaned up soil around fuel tanks. An aerial view in 2015 of the former Vista Field Airport in Kennewick. Tri-City Herald The assessment was submitted for review as part of a larger evaluation of Vista Field under the Washington State Environmental Protection Act or SEPA. It was considered adequate.
The state Department of Ecology is monitoring the PFAs review at Vista, Arntzen said. “We didn’t do anything out there that would have caused PFAs,” Arntzen said. Depending on results of the new round of testing, the port will address contaminated soil under the state’s Voluntary Cleanup Program. Otherwise, it could be required to enter a formal clean up agreement with Ecology. Until 2024, PFAs were not considered a regulated hazardous substance under either state or federal law. The port set the stage to develop the first phase of Vista Field when it installed streets, sidewalks, a linear water feature and other amenities in 2019. In 2022, it began marketing development sites in the first 20-acre phase to private developers. There will be eight phases in total. The port views Vista Field as an economic catalyst that will add 1,000 housing units, 740,000 square feet of retail, office and other commercial space and a 2.5-acre central plaza, all linked by walkable paths in a tree-lined neighborhood. Go to vistafield.com
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