Greens call on government to pay Tamworth council for PFAS chemical testing

PFAS chemicals are commonly found in the foam used in Australian Defence Force fire-fighting drills; however, the government refuses to accept any liability.

TRC has spent up to $150,000 on testing and containment, and its requests to have the cost reimbursed have been ignored.

Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi said it was completely unacceptable for council to be out of pocket.

“It’s incredibly disappointing to see the federal government being so stingy in refusing to pay for the testing and containment of PFAS contamination in and around Tamworth airport,” Senator Farqui said.

“The contamination likely happened under their watch, so it should be the federal government, not the local community, who should bear the cost of testing and remediation of this land.”

The Leader asked New England MP Barnaby Joyce if the federal government could reimburse council for the clean up costs of the chemical, without admitting liability.

“That’s something I’ll have to take on notice,” he said. 

“It’s an issue that’s not just for Tamworth, it’s across a lot of airports.

“It will cost billions and billions and billions of dollars to do across our nation, and that is why the government needs to make sure they’ve got their information right before they start spending that sort of money.

“The research that’s come back thus far for Australia – I’ve heard of other ports overseas – is that we can’t associate the chemical with any diseases. I know that’s contentious, but that is the information we’ve been given.”

Senator Faruqi said the government should be ashamed for trying to “wash their hands of it”.

“Environmental and human health should always be taken seriously,” she said.

“They need to take this seriously and commit to any measures necessary to protect the community.”