PHOTO: Community meeting at Stockton.
The Department of Defence has released a timeline of events in the lead up to the public announcement of water contamination, at Tilligerry Creek and Fullerton Cove.
The document confirms that the use of Aqueous Film Forming Foams (AFFF) was restricted in 2004 and subsequently replaced by another chemical in 2006.
Two years later the Department of Defence released its Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF) Procurement and Usage Interim Policy, which details the “minimum environmental requirements for AFFF products”.
In that policy, the department is instructed to treat the AFFF chemicals as “potentially toxic substances” and that “large spills or leaks resulting in contamination of soil, surface or groundwater is an environmental incident and must be reported”.
Despite this, the timeline reveals that it took until 2012 for the department to contact to NSW Environment Protection Authority and Hunter Water, to “discuss results”.
The timeline then goes onto detail when, earlier this month, Defence notified the public of the contamination, more than three years after discovering the problem.
The community has reacted angrily to the delay.
Residents have been advised not to drink bore water or eat fish or eggs from the area, until test results are received at the end of the month.
