Fact Sheet: PFAS at Penticton Airport and surrounding oxbows
(September 2025)
The Penticton Airport and some surrounding lands are contaminated from legacy use of firefighting foams containing Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS). PFAS are a group of human-made chemicals that have the potential to adversely affect human health and the environment. The purpose of this document is to share the facts to date on the investigation into the contamination.
PFAS at Penticton Airport
- Transport Canada (TC) used firefighting foams containing PFAS at the Penticton Airport for firefighter training from 1972 to 1993.
- TC began investigating the site for PFAS contamination in 2017 and informed snpink’tn Indian Band (SIB) of the contamination in August 2023.
- TC and SIB have tested drinking water, groundwater, surface water soil, and plants for PFAS.
- Drinking water wells at the Penticton Airport, Sun Leisure Mobile Home Park, Barefoot Beach Resort, and the Skaha Meadows Golf Course were sampled, with no PFAS detected above guidelines in drinking water to date.
- A total of 32 boreholes were drilled to date, with monitoring wells installed in most boreholes.
- Shallow groundwater (< 7.6 m below grade) had PFAS concentrations above drinking water guidelines across the airport and in SIB lands between the airport and the Okanagan Channel.
- PFAS was detected in soil samples from 14 samples sites, but only one location had PFAS concentrations above guidelines.
- PFAS was detected in wild asparagus harvested between the airport and Okanagan Channel in June 2025. No PFAS was detected in wild asparagus harvested west of the airport.
- PFAS concentrations in the oxbow lakes east of the airport were above drinking water guidelines, whereas PFAS concentrations in the Okanagan channel were well below guidelines.
History of PFAS Regulation and Guidelines in Canada
- The Canadian Federal Government began taking action on PFAS in 2012, under the Prohibition of Certain Toxic Substances Regulations, which banned the manufacture, use, sale, offer for sale, and import of some PFAS which have known health effects.
- In 2018, Health Canada updated the Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality to include two specific PFAS.
- In 2019, Health Canada introduced guidelines for select PFAS in soil.
- In 2021, the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment proposed environmental guidelines for select PFAS in soil, water and the environment.
- In 2024, Health Canada introduce a drinking water objective for PFAS as a class, significantly reducing the guideline concentration for PFAS in drinking water.
- In 2024, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency limited one specific PFAS in commercial fertilizers.
- In August 2025, Health Canada released lower guideline values for PFAS in soil, also using a class based approach. [NOTE: THIS DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE PUBLIC YET]
- In 2025, Health Canada announced that the Federal Government is considering prohibiting the use of PFAS as a class, but have not provided a timeline for this decision or action.
PFAS at Penticton Airport
- Transport Canada (TC) used firefighting foams containing PFAS at the Penticton Airport for firefighter training from 1972 to 1993.
- TC began investigating the site for PFAS contamination in 2017. Prior to notifying PIB, TC took the following actions:
- Drilled 22 boreholes across the airport and installed monitoring wells with screen depths between 0.8 and 7.6 meters below grade.
- Sampled groundwater for PFAS in all 22 boreholes at least one time.
- 19 boreholes were found to have groundwater PFAS concentrations above the current Health Canada drinking water objective.
- Sampled soil for PFAS concentration in 9 boreholes.
- 6 boreholes had soil PFAS concentrations above the current Health Canada soil guidelines.
- Sampled the airport water supply well for PFAS on 4 occasions.
- No samples were found to be above the current Health Canada drinking water objective.
- TC informed PIB of the PFAS contamination at the Penticton Airport in August 2023. Since then, TC and PIB formed a working group with the initial objective of investigating potential PFAS contamination in PIB lands. Since forming, the following activities have occurred.
- Drinking water:
- PIB drinking water wells at Sun Leisure Mobile Home Park, Barefoot Beach Resort, and the Skaha Meadows Golf Course were sampled, with no PFAS detected in drinking water to date.
- Shallow Groundwater:
- Drilled 10 additional boreholes split across airport and PIB lands and installed monitoring wells with screen depths between 0.9 and 7.6 m below grade.
- Between the new and existing monitoring wells, 100 samples have been collected to date, with 80 samples containing PFAS above the Health Canada drinking water objective.
- Soil:
- Soil samples were collected from 6 of the new boreholes and 4 additional locations, with all 10 locations containing PFAS but only 1 location containing PFAS above Health Canada soil guidelines.
- Plants:
- Wild asparagus was sampled in 4 locations, with 2 samples containing PFAS.
- Health Canada does not have guidelines for PFAS in food.
- Surface Water:
- Samples have been collected from the oxbow lakes east of the airport and the Okanagan channel of two occasions.
- Very high concentrations were detected in the oxbow lakes, and low concentrations detected in the Okanagan Channel (below Health Canada drinking water objective).
- Drinking water: