MARCH 2, 2015
Water tanks at the CFA facility were found to contain
perfluorooctane sulfonate, which was phased out because of health and
environmental concerns
The controversial Fiskville firefighter training facility in
regional Victoria has been closed indefinitely, after a banned chemical was
found in four dams used to store water for training exercises.
Water storage tanks at the Country Fire Authority facility
were found to contain perfluorooctane sulfonate, a manmade pollutant that was
in firefighting foams used until 2007 but which began to be phased out because
of concerns about health effects and the inability of the substance to break
down in the environment.
Study confirms cancer cluster among CFA Fiskville
firefighters in Victoria
The closure of the Fiskville site follows the release of a
comprehensive study earlier this year which found firefighters who worked there
between 1971 and 1999 had a higher incidence of skin, testicular and brain
cancers because of exposure to chemicals and recycled firewater.
The facility is also the subject of a landmark parliamentary
inquiry examining pollution, contamination and unsafe activities at the site
from 1970 to 1990.
Victoria’s premier, Daniel Andrews, said on Tuesday that
WorkSafe chief executive Denise Cosgrove and chairman David Krasnostein had
resigned at the government’s request.
Andrews said the government had lost confidence in the safety watchdog because it had given “clear advice” that the water was safe last year.
After the discovery of the toxin in the water, the government had demanded an explanation, Andrews said.
“They can not explain how they got this wrong,” he said. “In fact, they can not guarantee us that they even tested the water in the first place. I will not be lied to, and I will not accept incompetence.”
The CFA chief executive, Michael Wootten, said further
testing of all water, including drinking water, would be conducted at Fiskville
over coming days.
“Since 2012, mains water has been used on the practical area
for drills, which has been stored in two large tanks,” he said. “Recent tests
of the tanks show the presence of these residues.”
Remediation of the dam water and sediment would take place
“in the near future,” he said.
The Victorian emergency services minister, Jane Garrett,
said the investigations would be exhaustive, and that the government would be
seeking advice from chemical and medical experts.
“This is a very serious and distressing matter for all those
people connected to Fiskville,” Garrett said. “We will offer every assistance
to those who have been exposed to this water. The investigation will be
definitive and give us the answers that so many people deserve.”
The site may never be reopened, United Firefighters Union
Victorian secretary Peter Marshall told the ABC on Tuesday morning.
“There’s a dark, dark, cloud hanging over the long-term
viability, or even the short-term viability, of Fiskville,” he said. “Whatever
happens, it is our job to make sure that the employment of those people
affected is secure. We will engage with the state government over that, and
also ensure that their health is monitored.”
Along with a training facility at Craigieburn, Fiskville was
a main training site for firefighters. Craigieburn and smaller facilities
across the state would have to absorb staff and trainees while the Fiskville
facility was investigated, Marshall said.
The union believes the testing should have been carried out
earlier, he said, and concerns about the safety of the site have been raised
many times.
“The quest is to make those accountable who have knowledge
and have not divulged that knowledge to personnel in the past,” he said. “They
should be worried because there is a parliamentary inquiry and the truth will
come out.
There’s been information covered up, and testing results that weren’t
given to staff.”
//--------------------------------------------//
The heads of Victoria's workplace safety watchdog have been
sacked over the toxic contamination of water at the Fiskville CFA training
centre.
The firefighter training college at Fiskville, north-west of
Melbourne, was immediately closed indefinitely on Monday after a dangerous
chemical was found in water tanks.
Premier Daniel Andrews said he had "lost confidence"
in WorkSafe chief executive Denise Cosgrove and chairman David Krasnostein.
The government asked for their resignations after they were
unable to guarantee they had tested the water at Fiskville, despite assurances
in December that the site was safe.
"I will not be lied to, and I will not accept
incompetence," Mr Andrews said.
Following news on Monday about contamination at Fiskville,
WorkSafe was again grilled about site safety and was unable to confirm the
water had been tested.
The toxic residue found in the new test results
– perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) – was in firefighting foams
used at the site until banned in 2007.
It is the latest contamination to be uncovered at the
Fiskville centre, near Ballan, which has been dogged by health fears since 2011
after being linked to a cluster of cancer diagnoses.
The controversial site already the subject of a
parliamentary inquiry into concerns firefighters were exposed to carcinogenic
chemicals dating back to the 1970s.
Questions now remain about Fiskville's long-term future,
with CFA chief executive Michael Wootten unable to confirm if it will remain
open after a two-week probe into the latest contamination.
"The future of the site is something we will work
through after we determine whether the water at the site is safe," he
said.
"We are currently conducting further tests across the
site to check if there are residues at any other outlets, taps, shower
heads."
Emergency Services Minister Jane Garrett said she was
"deeply disturbed" by the latest contamination, and "can't
imagine this site will ever operate again".
Emergency Management Commissioner Craig Lapsley refused to
be drawn on the site's operational future.
"I'm not here to say Fiskville will close ... we have
to let the process run a little longer," he said.
But Mr Lapsley said a new fire site in Craigieburn, which
opened its doors last year, would bolster the network of eight training centres
statewide.
United Firefighters Union secretary Peter Marshall said more
officials within WorkSafe, the CFA and the former Coalition government must be
held to account for systemic failures at Fiskville.
He said the discovery of contaminated mains water was the
"latest chapter in this sorry saga", which has exposed firefighters
to grave danger and long-term health implications.
"WorkSafe, the CFA and the Napthine government have
failed to protect firefighters despite knowing that the water using in training
firefightres sat on sludge so dangerously contaminated that it is illegal to
move it from Fiskville without years of expensive remediation," Mr
Marshall said.
"More heads will roll."
Environment Protection Authority chief Nial Finegan said the
latest contamination at Fiskville was uncovered as a result of two clean-up
notices from his agency in 2013.
The CFA had been ordered to appoint an environmental
auditor, who recommended taking samples of drinking water, he said.
"The rigour of the independent auditor system overseen
by EPA provides robust oversight and can give the community confidence in our
work," Mr Finegan said.
Operations at Fiskville were downgraded in late 2014 after
the parliamentary inquiry into the cancer cluster began. Long-running health
fears held by cancer-affected firefighters and their families were confirmed in
January with a Monash University study finding elevated rates of brain, skin
and testicular cancers among more than 600 firefighters.
Sixteen firefighters have died from cancer and 53 have been
diagnosed.
The government has confirmed WorkSafe's insurance business
unit director, Clare Amies, will be appointed acting chief executive of the
organisation.
TAC chairman and WorkSafe board member John Walter will be
acting chairperson.