A former NSW Australian of the Year has accused authorities of an “appalling” failure to protect citizens from cancer-linked forever chemicals in drinking water and has threatened to lead a class action against the government unless Australian standards are overhauled.
The threat follows the shock closure that a Blue Mountains dam which forms part of the drinking water catchment showed elevated levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals (PFAS).
The delay in shutting down a contaminated dam has outraged former Australian of the Year Jon Dee.Credit: Glenn Hunt
Authorities belatedly tested drinking water supplies following pressure from a Herald investigation in June.
The discovery has outraged Jon Dee, a former Australian of the Year for NSW and founder of Planet Ark, who lives in the Blue Mountains.
“What shocks everybody locally is that if The Sydney Morning Herald had not really, really pushed this, we would still be none the wiser, drinking water with PFAS four times higher than what is allowed in America and 300 times higher than what is in Warragamba Dam,” Dee said.
“That’s totally unacceptable.”
Medlow Dam in the NSW Blue Mountains has been taken offline after it was found to contain elevated levels of forever chemicals. Credit: Nick Moir
When asked why it was not carrying out routine monitoring of the drinking water supply in June, a Sydney Water spokesperson said there were “no known PFAS hotspots in our drinking water catchments”.
NSW authorities’ handling of the issue has angered people such as Dee, who feel they have been unnecessarily exposed to elevated levels of the chemicals.
“The failure to properly monitor these forever chemicals in our water supply has put the health of the Blue Mountains population at risk. It has put our tourist visitors at risk,” Dee said.
“This failure in the duty of care towards the public is appalling.”
WaterNSW revealed on Wednesday that Medlow Dam has been taken offline after it was found to contain elevated levels of the PFAS, exceeding both Australian and more stringent US safety standards.
Raw water from the dam is fed into other dams and diluted before it reaches the Cascade Water Filtration Plant, which supplies tap water to more than 49,000 Blue Mountains residents and millions of tourists who visit the region’s world-famous peaks.
Testing in June showed levels of forever chemicals in the tap water fell within Australia’s drinking water guidelines.
However, they were about quadruple what the US will permit its citizens to be exposed to, after it concluded there was no safe level of the “probable carcinogens”.
‘What we don’t want to end up with is a potential cancer cluster in the Blue Mountains for people like me and my family and my friends.’
Jon Dee
Dee called on the Australian government to immediately adopt the US safety thresholds, which experts say are based on the most comprehensive scientific evaluation of forever chemicals ever undertaken by a global health authority.
The US considered more than 130 studies that didn’t exist when Australia finalised its guidelines in 2018.
America is ground-zero of the global forever chemicals crisis as the home of chemical giant 3M, which is accused of masterminding a decades-long campaign to hide the dangers of its stain-repellent and water-proofing products from the world.
A review of Australia’s guidelines is expected to be completed next year.
Dee was incensed by what he perceived as attempts by the NSW government to play down the matter.
“I think essentially the authorities are gaslighting the public by trying to make them think there’s nothing to worry about,” Dee said.
“We should take the precautionary principle and ensure the water quality is meeting the US standard because that’s the world’s best standard.”
Dee called on Premier Chris Minns to take personal charge of the matter.
“If the Minns government cannot guarantee this, then my view is that a class action should be launched against Sydney Water or WaterNSW.
“What we don’t want to end up with is a potential cancer cluster in the Blue Mountains for people like me and my family and my friends.”
Minister grilled
NSW Environment Minister Penny Sharpe was grilled in parliament on Thursday by Greens MLC Cate Faehrmann about the discrepancies between US and Australian standards.
Sharpe pointed out it was a matter for the federal government and was currently being dealt with by a National Health and Medical Research Council review.
“So I am aware of it, and I am concerned, of course, but we’re taking steps in relation to that, and it’s just going to take a little bit of time,” she said.
Asked on Thursday how concerned he was about the discovery of the chemicals in Medlow Dam, NSW Health Minister Ryan Park said he was confident that agencies would do stringent work to monitor the situation.
Park added he believed Sydney’s drinking water was “the best drinking water on the globe”.
In June, Sydney’s drinking water supply was also found to contain trace levels of PFAS, but readings were within Australia’s safety thresholds.
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