PFAS clean up could take decades, parliamentary committee hears

THERE will be no quick fix to contamination from chemicals in firefighting foam leaked from the Tindal Air Force Base, a parliamentary inquiry has heard.

A PFAS treatment plant under construction in Katherine. Picture: Supplied

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THERE will be no quick fix to contamination from chemicals in firefighting foam leaked from the Tindal Air Force Base, a parliamentary inquiry has heard.

The Defence Department has previously said it will no longer provide water to Katherine residents who have had their bore water supply contaminated by PFAS after next year.

But on Monday, CSIRO senior research scientist Greg Davis told a joint standing committee on the elimination and remediation of PFAS and related impacts in and around Defence bases a comprehensive solution could still be decades away.

Chemicals in firefighting foam leaked from RAAF Base Tindal. Picture: Supplied

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“Resolving all of the PFAS issues is probably a decadal or multi-decadal issue, it’s not a quick fix unfortunately but beyond that we’re working to a timeline with Defence around trying to get the scenario assessments done by the middle of next year,” he said.

“Part of that is to look at feasibility of the scale of benefit from different levels of efforts in remediation strategies so we are feeding into a shorter time frame but there will be a longer time frame where we believe we’ll need to undertake further work to address the broader issues.”

Earlier this month, a Defence spokeswoman said 96 rainwater tanks had been installed at 68 properties as of September 7.

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“As part of this commitment, Defence agreed to top up rainwater tanks (as necessary) for … three years, followed by a review at the end of the three-year period,” she said.

“Defence has reviewed this arrangement and has determined that it will continue to provide rainwater tank top-ups (as necessary) for an additional year.”

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