Abattoir blames Govt for $47m loss
PFAS contamination in Oakey has halted Oakey Beef Exports from expanding and is expected to cost them $47 million, the company has alleged.
The local abattoir, one of the largest employers in Oakey, has launched civil legal action against the Commonwealth of Australia in the Supreme Court of Queensland, documents obtained by The Chronicle have revealed.
Oakey Beef Exports has operated at its current site since 1956 and employs more than 750 locals. It is owned by Japanese company NH Foods.
PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a group of human-made chemicals.
The chemicals were commonly found in firefighting foams used at aviation centres including the Oakey Army Aviation Centre for decades. The chemicals contaminated groundwater supplies around the base.
Oakey Beef Exports has accused the Commonwealth of negligence, nuisance and a breach of duty of care over the contamination and is seeking compensation.
In the statement of claims Oakey Beef Exports allege they have not been able to use several bores they had a right to use from 2015 onwards, as well dams on their property as “the dams (including the slide at the bottom of the dams) have been contaminated by PFAS”.
“In the premises, the defendant has interfered with a property right of the plaintiff, namely the use of water that it had the right to extract and use from the Oakey Creek alluvium and the dams for the conduct of business on the property,” the statement of claims read.
“(This) caused the plaintiff to incur costs it would not otherwise have incurred in the conduct of the business being the additional costs to source water to replace the water the plaintiff could not use from the Oakey Creek Alluvium.
“The defendants negligence has caused the dam contamination and thereby cause the plaintiff to incur costs to remove contaminated material from the property.”
This removal of contaminated material is expected to cost the company $26,765,220.
They have also spent $171,795.88 on testing water for PFAS and $797,978.26 to source uncontaminated water for their operations.
They estimate the future consequential loss to source alternative water supplies to be $15,957,488.
In 2014 the company had planned to expand its operations, going from a five day a week operation to a seven day a week operation.
The statement of claims said they would have installed a portion control room, upgraded pipelines and drainage systems, constructed a childminding facility and accommodation for employees.
The company decided not to go ahead with the $30 million plan in 2015 due to the bore contamination and drought conditions in Queensland.
The company estimates it has lost $14,048,843 per annum in profits because it was unable to proceed with the expansion.
Overall, the company claims to have suffered a consequential loss of $958,160.14 to date, with a total future consequential loss expected to be $46,931,176.
The Federal Government is yet to file its response.