Williamtown PFAS contamination red zone expands 50 per cent on expert panel advice

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The surprise revelations emerged during a meeting on Sunday, called at the 11th hour by NSW chief scientist Professor Mary O'Kane and NSW Environment Protection Authority chair Barry Buffier. 

It was also revealed that if Defence does not ramp up its remediation efforts, the red zone will exist in its current form until at least 2050. 

“If Defence was able to contain the PFAS and really get ... effective remediation going then we might see that plume reduce,” Professor O’Kane said. 

“We could see considerable improvements and we hope, over time, that will happen.” 

There were fiery scenes at the Mercure Hotel afterwards as community reference group members reacted with frustration and anger to what they saw as a long overdue decision. 

The Newcastle Herald has previously reported on residents outside the red zone with blood levels of the per- and poly-fluoroalkyl chemicals [PFAS] at 10 times the national average, but authorities have repeatedly deflected calls for its boundaries to be reconsidered. 

“It’s completely out of control. It’s like a train they cannot stop,” President of the Williamtown and Surrounds Residents Action Group Cain Gorfine said. 

“There are now 250 more families that will wake up tomorrow morning, thinking ‘have I poisoned my kids?’. It’s not an exaggeration. That’s the reality for them.”

Professor O’Kane pointed out that the decision to expand the red zone had been made as a result of new sampling data provided by Defence to the Williamtown Expert Panel.

The Department will release an updated Human Health Risk Assessment early next month. 

But Professor O’Kane conceded she could understand why residents would be upset to only learn they were at risk now, more than two years since the contamination crisis became public. 

“I think they’re justified in feeling pretty cranky, yes,” she said. 

President of Salt Ash Community First, Nick Marshall, said the community had no faith in the official advice. 

“They’ve changed the red zone three times already, they’ve changed the safe levels three times. I don’t think these clowns know what they’re doing,” he said.

“The frustration that we get is that we sit in a meeting here with our lead agencies and we hear words like hopefully and maybe,” Lindsay Clout of the Fullerton Cove Residents Action Group added. 

Under the changes, the investigation area – the formal name for the red zone – has been renamed the management area. 750 households fall within its boundaries, after it was extended at Fullerton Cove and Salt Ash, but contracted to the north-west and south-east. 

The red zone has been divided into the primary, secondary and broader management zones, with precautions based on PFAS concentrations detected. 

The primary management zone is south of the base, where contamination has been discovered hundreds of times over safe drinking water levels. It was the focus of the Herald’s cancer cluster investigation, which uncovered 50 cases in 15 years.

Residents in that zone have been warned not to use ground, bore or surface water for any purpose, not to do anything that could lead to incidental ingestion of the water and not to consume any home-grown foods.

“We're also highlighting the drains to the south of the base and to the south of that primary zone and saying to be extra careful of those drains as well, for everybody,” Professor O’Kane said. 

People in the secondary and broader management zones must avoid swallowing bore, ground or surface water, or using it for drinking or cooking. They should avoid eating home-grown food. 

There was no sampling at Campvale, which was deemed not part of the investigation area by Defence. 

The timing of Sunday’s announcement raised eyebrows, with Williamtown Community Reference Group only advised of the meeting on Friday night. 

Mr Buffier said it was about updating the community as soon as possible. 

“NSW EPA and NSW Health officers are out doorknocking the local area and speaking with affected residents about what the updated advice means for them,” Mr Buffier said. 

“We chose today because we can get around and talk to a lot of people at home … I didn't want to leave it until next weekend, because you've got the V8 Supercars.” 

Mr Buffier added that Defence would be required to perform ongoing monitoring and sampling throughout the management area. 

Member for Port Stephens, Kate Washington, described the developments as “sickening”.

“It’s another day, another announcement where residents still have no idea what the future looks like,” she said. 

“There’s no talk about buy-backs, there’s no talk about what the actual health impacts are.” 

She said warnings about contact with surface water were particularly devastating for residents in the primary zone. 

“If we have rain at those properties, their families can’t go outdoors. That is what the advice actually means they are getting today,” she said. 

The red zone has also encroached into the neighbouring electorate of Newcastle, and MP Tim Crakanthorp said he had called on Environment Minister Gabrielle Upton to visit the area. 

“I have not even had the decency of a response,” he said. 

The red zone was first announced in September, 2015, and was enlarged to the north-east a month later.