Inquiry to demand answers on CFA Fiskville contamination scandal

KEY bosses in the CFA’s Fiskville contamination scandal are on sick leave, have moved interstate, changed positions or taken long service leave.

3/9/2000. A CFA rookie takes part in an exercise designed to simulate a burning petrol tanker at Fiskville.

KEY bosses in the CFA’s Fiskville contamination scandal are on sick leave, have moved interstate, changed positions or taken long service leave.

But the parliamentary inquiry into the shutdown of the training hub has warned it will use its powers to call them to the stand to answer claims against the CFA about its handling of the debacle.

Tomorrow, witnesses will give evidence on the final day of stage one hearings before the parliamentary inquiry into Fiskville ahead of an interim report to be presented within two weeks.

Stage two of the hearings will be calling on organisations that are ­responsible for Fiskville, ­including WorkSafe and the Environment Protection Authority.

Committee chair Bronwyn Halfpenny said she “hoped for complete co-operation”.

“At the same time, the committee does have the powers to summons witnesses and documents and would be prepared to use those powers if needed,” Ms Halfpenny said.

Senior firefighting figures likely to be called include former chief executive Mick Bourke, the current acting chief executive Michael Wootten, former chief officer Euan Ferguson and former chief officer at Fiskville Peter Rau, now the MFB’s chief officer.

The parliamentary inquiry was sparked after the Herald Sun revealed in 2011 there was at least 15 people whose ­cancers may have been linked to exposure to toxic fumes and chemicals at Fiskville.

The CFA used drums full of toxic waste as a cheap alternative to petrol to fuel training fires and save money.

The State Government inquiry followed the Robert Joy report, commissioned by the CFA, which found widespread concerns about the practices at Fiskville between 1971 and 1999. A Monash University study confirmed the firefighters in the high-risk group of people at Fiskville had double the expected risk of cancer.

“The major causes of cancer driving that excess are melanoma and testicular cancer,” researcher Professor Malcolm Sim found. Those in the medium-risk group had an “excess of brain tumours”.

Some CFA volunteers were unhappy with Mr Bourke’s blog on the day the Monash study was released, which they believed underplayed the seriousness of the findings.

On 21 January, Mr Bourke wrote: “The study found higher than expected rates of skin, testicular and brain cancer. However when compared with the Victorian community, the overall incidence of cancer was not higher for the study group as a whole.”

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

MICK BOURKE, former CFA chief executive

RESIGNED from the CFA on February 9.

Mr Bourke was in the chief position for nearly six years and criticised for his handling of the Fiskville site contamination clean-up. He appointed former colleague Robert Joy to run an independent inquiry into Fiskville, limiting the scope of the investigation to 1999.

JUSTIN JUSTIN, former officer in charge of Fiskville

RESIGNED from the CFA on December 20, 2014

Mr Justin quit his Fiskville position two weeks after the Government announced a parliamentary inquiry into Fiskville. He sent an email to on-site Fiskville staff on June 22, 2012, reassuring them the base’s water met required standards and “poses no risk”. On July 6 that year, it was revealed some people at the CFA knew for more than a decade water used in training was potentially deadly.

NOW Assistant chief fire officer, Northern Territory Fire and Rescue Service.

MICHAEL WOOTTEN, former CFA executive director of business services

PROMOTED after Mr Bourke’s resignation to acting CFA chief executive.

Mr Wootten was involved in negotiations with farmers adjacent to Fiskville, Matt and Beccara Lloyd. They and their children have levels of PFOS in their bodies up to 100 times the average human levels. Their land, dams and sheep are contaminated with toxic run-off from Fiskville. He was one of two who presented a buyout offer of $350,000 to the farmers, withdrawn when the Lloyds said they needed to speak to a lawyer before they accepted the offer.

NOW The position for which he acts is open for applications.

PETER RAU, former officer in charge of Fiskville

NOW he is the Metropolitan Fire Brigade’s chief officer, on indefinite sick leave.

He was head of Fiskville from 2005 to 2008. The Herald Sun revealed he was in the hot seat when scientists introduced a potentially deadly bacteria — pseudomonas aeruginosa — to clean up toxic contamination in sludge at the bottom of a fire training water. MFB said it its submission that Mr Rau is undergoing treatment for personal health conditions that “may be related to the issues at Fiskville”.

EUAN FERGUSON, CFA chief officer

ANNOUNCED last week he would leave the position in November.

Mr Ferguson was the operational chief of the CFA during the height of the toxic Fiskville contamination. He twice delivered the bad news to former chief officer Brian Potter — who died from multiple cancers he firmly believed were related to his years spent living at Fiskville — that the CFA would not compensate him for his illnesses.

BELIEVED to be considering a senior position in South Australian emergency services.

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