Orcutt and Abbarno introduce legislation to protect drinking water and relocate Bob Oke game farm
CONTACT: Jennifer Hansen, Senior Public Information Officer for Rep. Peter Abbarno | 360-786-7720
John Handy, Communications Director for Rep. Ed Orcutt | 360-786-5758
Orcutt and Abbarno introduce legislation to protect drinking water and relocate Bob Oke game farm
State Reps. Ed Orcutt, R-Kalama, and Peter Abbarno, R-Chehalis, introduced legislation to protect local drinking water and safeguard the Fords Prairie aquifer by relocating the state-run Bob Oke game farm near Centralia.
House Bill 2668 directs the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to identify a new, safer location for its pheasant-rearing operations and begin an orderly transition away from the current site. The action follows groundwater testing that found elevated nitrate levels in private wells and a subsequent investigation confirming that manure from the game farm is contributing to contamination in the underlying aquifer that supplies residential and municipal drinking water.
“While it is important to address the immediate issue of continued leaching of nitrates into private wells and the municipal water supply by requiring WDFW to comply with state rules around animal feeding operations, we also need to start the process of relocating the game farm to a more suitable location – one where drinking water sources are not subject to the nitrates from such an operation,” said Orcutt. “Moving the game farm will take time, but it will take even longer if we never start the process. This bill mandates the process begin now to get the process underway and get the game farm moved.”
Under the bill, WDFW and the Department of Enterprise Services must submit a joint relocation plan by Dec. 31, 2026, with the move completed within 36 months. While the transition is underway, the agencies would be required to immediately reduce nutrient impacts by decreasing bird populations, expanding manure removal, and increasing groundwater monitoring.
“We’re talking about people’s drinking water, families, seniors, and entire neighborhoods who rely on this aquifer every single day,” said Abbarno, House Republican Caucus Chair. “There cannot be one set of rules for private citizens and another for the state. If a private operation caused this level of contamination, it would be shut down. This bill holds government to the same standards. It creates a clear path to relocate the facility, clean up the site, and stop further harm, because protecting public health has to come first.”
The legislation also requires the development of a comprehensive remediation plan for the existing property, including continued monitoring, soil restoration, and identification of future land uses compatible with long-term water protection.
In addition to relocating the Bob Oke game farm, the 20th District lawmakers also introduced House Bill 2343 to ensure publicly operated game farms across Washington are subject to the same water quality standards as private agricultural operations. The bill would close existing regulatory gaps by requiring state-run facilities to comply with concentrated animal feeding operation permits, including manure management, groundwater monitoring, and pollution prevention, bringing public operations in line with the environmental protection already expected of private producers.
Together, the bills address both the immediate threat to local drinking water and the broader need for statewide accountability, ensuring state agencies model the same environmental stewardship required of the public.
HB 2668 is now under consideration in the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, where it awaits a public hearing.
