Oakey water contamination: Defence report shows toxic deposits ‘slowly migrating’

THE Defence Department has released a report on the extent of the spread of toxic chemicals around Oakey and it’s not good news for the generations to come.

Kirsty Krause with son Graham, 16, who was diagnosed with a brain tumour and daughter Samantha, 15, who was found to have tumours on her brain stem. Picture: Mark Calleja

OAKEY’S water contamination crisis will continue to spread through the town for the next 100 years, a new report has revealed.

The Defence Department publicly released its Oakey Army Aviation Centre Environmental Site Assessment report this week which examined the extent of the spread of PFOS and PFOA from firefighting foam used on the base over four decades.

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The 2435-page document, compiled by AECOM engineering firm, analysed hundreds of samples taken from on and off the base, confirming the toxins had moved consistently through Oakey’s soil, sediments, surface water and bore water in a matter of months.

It also found the toxic deposits were “slowly migrating down valley” from the base, in line with the underground bore water flow.

Report maps reveal the predicted movement of the noxious plume over a 100-year period which shows a “more substantial migration” west and then southwest of the base. “As a precaution, Defence has recommended residents do not drink water sourced from any groundwater bores within the Investigation Area until further notice,” the report urged.

Oakey residents were addressed by Defence representatives at a public meeting this week. A spokesman for Defence Minister Marise Payne said the report was a forecast for what could happen at Oakey if “absolutely nothing was done to address these compounds in groundwater”.

Queensland Environment Minister Steven Miles said the findings were disturbing.

“The fact that this report to the Commonwealth Government has found it necessary to assess the movement of these chemicals over a 100-year time frame, confirms the advice that I’ve been receiving from Queensland’s own scientists that these chemicals don’t break down,” Dr Miles said.

“They last forever, and when they leak into the environment, it is a serious event”.

The contamination was first discovered during routine environmental testing on the base in 2010.