The NSW Greens will move for an urgent upper house inquiry this week after more revelations that cancer-linked forever chemicals have been detected in Sydney’s drinking water catchment – this time well above Australian drinking water guidelines.
New testing has found alarming levels of PFAS concentrations downstream of Medlow Dam in the Blue Mountains at 200 times higher than the guidelines – and upstream at more than 50 times the guidelines.
In December 2023, the World Health Organisation concluded that forever chemicals are carcinogenic. There is no safe level of exposure without a risk of adverse health effects.
‘The health minister needs to come clean about exactly what’s in Sydney’s drinking water,’ said Greens MP and water spokesperson Cate Faehrmann. ‘As recently as Budget Estimates last week, Minister Park said that Sydney’s drinking water is safe, yet now we have independent testing showing PFAS concentrations well above the drinking water guidelines.
‘I wrote to the health and water ministers back in June seeking urgent independent testing which they refused to do. Then last week, I was informed that as a result of recent media investigations, Sydney Water and WaterNSW have added PFAS monitoring to their testing procedures.’
Media exposure
‘It shouldn’t have to take media exposure before the government acts, yet that’s exactly what’s happening,’ said Ms Faehrmann. ‘And the public shouldn’t have to rely upon independent testing for the truth to come out about what exactly is in their drinking water and whether it’s safe.
‘Members of the public are writing to me in confusion and distress. They don’t know whether they should be drinking the water coming out of their taps. Meanwhile the government says it still doesn’t know the source of the PFAS and it could take months before they do.
‘It’s not good enough. The government can’t be trusted to tell the public everything they need to know about this issue. The public deserves answers and that’s why I’ll be moving for an urgent parliamentary inquiry into this issue this week,’ said Cate Faehrmann.
PFAS chemicals have also been found in a number of other locations around Australia, including Mullumbimby (in groundwater), and in communities adjoining a number of airports, fire stations, military bases and other locations.
Find out more about these chemicals in this video from the National Toxics Network:
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
