Skyhawk toxin fears groundless

Scientists have ruled out a crashed Skyhawk jet as the reason why a town’s water supply has been contaminated with toxic chemicals, but are unable to rule out O¯ hakea airforce base as the source.

Bulls’ water supply is contaminated with substances that were used in firefighting foams. The chemicals are also either in or used during the production of a variety of common items, such as carpets, paints and printer parts.

Officials have said the Bulls contamination level is so low the water is still safe to drink.

Drinking water near the base was almost certainly contaminated by the Defence Force, but the problem at nearby Bulls was a mystery, though Rangitı¯kei’s mayor, Andy Watson, said the landfill looked a likely culprit.

Horizons Regional Council has been working on the Bulls contamination, and initially pointed to the site of a 1996 Skyhawk, about 10 kilometres north of the town, as a possible cause. But that was ruled out by the council’s science and innovation manager, Abby Matthews, on Tuesday. She told the council’s environment committee there was no detection of the toxic chemicals at the site. Low levels of the chemical compound known as PFAS were detected at the landfill.

However, there were still question marks about the contamination coming from O¯ hakea base. Airforce firefighters no longer use the banned substance in fighting fuel fires or in training.

Matthews said the base could not be ruled out until there was

‘‘We don’t know what material [containing PFAS] may have been put in there or what state it is in.’’ Andy Watson

more information from the Defence Force, which was doing its own testing.

Rangitı¯kei mayor Andy Watson said it appeared the landfill was the source, raising questions on managing the problem. ‘‘We don’t know what material [containing PFAS] may have been put in there or what state it is in.’’

Removing any material would come with problems, but there was no immediate risk to people, he said.