A Senate inquiry into the RAAF contamination issue has heard defence officials knew chemicals had leached from the Williamtown base at the end of 2012.
Steve Grzeskowiak, Deputy Secretary of Estate and Infrastructure, told the hearing in Canberra this morning that Defence detected the chemicals from old fire fighting foam in December 2011, and knew it had leached from the base a year later.
He said Defence had known since 2003 of potential health impacts from PFOS. Mr Grzeskowiak also said that while Defence no longer uses the foam in high concentrations, trace levels of PFOS are still present in foam used to fight fires.
When questioned on the issue of compensation, Mr Grzeskowiak said it’s too early to consider in detail and that consideration on compensation needs to happen as the full impact of the leak becomes evident.
New South Wales Chief Scientist and Engineer Mary O’Kane told the hearing that Defence isn’t moving quick enough in providing information, and that there’s a “level of concern” at the speed with which Defence has responded to information requests.
Commercial fishermen last week decided to introduce voluntary fishing bans, and today Ms O’Kane said those bans should last until at least June 2016.
