<
https://www.smh.com.au/national/defence-was-warned-about-forever-chemicals-they-kept-it-quiet-for-three-decades-20230625-p5dj7z.html>
"Defence was warned as far back as 1981 that it was “unacceptable” that its
firefighting pollution was escaping towards homes but waited more than 30 years
to alert the public and begin investigating the extent of the problem across
its bases.
The decision meant tens of thousands of Australians were exposed to “forever
chemicals” contamination while Defence secretly took steps to protect the
health of its workers in the late 1990s.
A two-year investigation by this masthead, featured in an upcoming
Stan
documentary, has unearthed explosive secrets about Defence’s handling of the
contamination crisis that has engulfed communities living around 27 bases
nationwide.
It has obtained a trove of documents that reveal grave warnings about the
chemicals were sounded at the highest levels of Defence much earlier than
previously reported.
In 1981, Defence’s most senior bureaucrat was warned about the escape of the
firefighting foam, known as AFFF, from a naval base towards homes on the NSW
South Coast.
“For environmental reasons, this situation is unacceptable and should be
discontinued,” the letter from the Department of Housing and Construction
said."
Via
Guardian Australia
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
