Advice over contaminated water a win for residents

IF you live in a suburb surrounding the Gold Coast Airport, you would probably have received by now a leaflet of advice on the use of PFAS-contaminated bore water.

PFAS (perfluoroalkyl substances) are a class of man-made chemicals that are linked to serious health problems, and our bore water has been contaminated from the Gold Coast Airport site where this chemical has been used over many years for firefighting drills. The offsite contamination was confirmed last year after testing was carried out by Air Services Australia and the Queensland State Government at various locations in Tugun, Bilinga, Kirra and Coolangatta.

The Federal Government maintains there is no consistent evidence that exposure to PFAS causes adverse health effects but because these chemicals are persistent, they do agree that as a precaution, human exposure must be minimised.

After much lobbying by the Friends of Currumbin Community Group for the precautionary principle to be acknowledged and implemented, an agreement was finally reached that the health advice on the State Government website would be transposed onto a letter and distributed to the Community by Federal Member Karen Andrews.

Congratulations and many thanks to Ms Andrews and Queensland State Compliance’s Andrew Connor for putting politics aside and coming together to organise this letterbox drop to 9000 local residents. GLORIA BAKER, FRIENDS OF CURRUMBIN