2016-2021 – Blind Bight Waste Water Treatment Plant. Groundwater polluted with PFAS

2016-2021: Blind Bight Waste Water Treatment Plant

Links here which mention Blind Bight:

Groundwater Pollution

Biosolids

South East Water’s Blind Bight WWTP saw a big increase in PFAS detected in ground water underlying waste water treatment plant over a 5 year period. Most of the PFAS detected at Blind Bight has been detected in one Bore BB08. The FoI provided no information about the exact location or depth of the bores. No information either about how far the PFAS plume/contamination is extending.

10 separate PFAS chemicals have been detected in bore water from BB08 at Blind Bight. Total Sum 6.74 µg/L (May 2021) showed excessive levels of PFHxA 2.6µg/L, PFOA1.4 µg/L*, PFPeA 1.2 µg/L.

* ANZECC 99% Trigger Level PFOA 19µg/L.

PFOS has an ANZECC 99% Trigger Level of 0.00023µg/L. One PFOS level at BB08 breached this guideline in April 2019. That detection was 0.002µg/L or 8.7 times higher than the ANZECC Guideline.

However, Bore BBO7 recorded a PFOS level of 0.17µg/L on May 27 2020. This is 739 times higher than the ANZECC 99% trigger level and higher than the ANZECC 95% trigger level of 0.13µg/L. Seven other bores at Blind Bright were also in breach of the ANZECC 99% PFOS Trigger Level. In fact, the ANZECC 99% PFOS Guideline was breached 17 times at Blind Bight between 2016-2021, with an average PFOS detection level of 0.035µg/L or 152 times higher than the ANZECC 99% Trigger level.

Blind Bight WWTP lies above Zone 6 of the Koo Wee Rup Groundwater Management Unit, within the coastal buffer zone. The Westernport aquifer system generally discharges into Westernport Bay. Blind Bight WWTP also sits above Swamps and Backdune Wetlands, near Westernport Ramsar sites and North Western Port Nature Conservation Reserve.