Council working with Defence after PFAS detected at Forest Hill Sewage Treatment Plant
https://wagga.nsw.gov.au/city-of-wagga-wagga/council/news/media-releases/2018/august-2018
Council working with Defence after PFAS detected at Forest Hill Sewage Treatment Plant
Wagga Wagga City Council has initiated discussions with the Department of Defence and EPA after PFAS contamination was detected at the Forest Hill Sewage Treatment Plant.
Council believes that the PFAS contamination in the effluent is sourced from the PFAS contamination at the RAAF base.
The Department of Defence has been overseeing PFAS contamination investigations in the Forest Hill area for some time.
The identification of contamination in the effluent at the Forest Hill Sewage Treatment Plant is a significant issue for Council.
The NSW EPA has directed that Council must not discharge the contaminated effluent from the treatment plant.
Based on the expected volume of effluent being treated and expected weather conditions Council believes that it has the capacity to store up to 18 months of effluent.
This means that a solution must be found to problem within this time frame.
Councillors were briefed on the problem yesterday and the issue was raised with representatives from the Department of Defence at a Council workshop last night.
Council confirmed that it was looking to the Department of Defence to identify a solution and the representatives from the Department of Defence confirmed that they would work closely with Council to address the problem.
PFAS is a chemical historically used in fire-fighting foams; it is slow to break down in the environment and has become an issue concerning numerous communities across Australia.
In June the Department of Defence released a Detailed Site Investigation at RAAF Base Wagga into PFAS contamination and found it has migrated into ground water and surface water.
Forest Hill Sewage Treatment Plant is essential WWCC infrastructure used to treat the waste intake from the Forest Hill residential area and RAAF Base Wagga.
Council has no information at this time to suggest that there is any risk to ground water or public health arising from the contaminated effluent at the treatment plant as the treated effluent is contained at the within the storage ponds
Comprehensive Investigation of Per- and Poly- Fluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) at RAAF Base Wagga Department of Defence Detailed Site Investigation FINAL (Rev3) 5 June 2018 (Jacobs)
1.WAGGA Council Sewerage Treatment Plants
(a)Extract Page 51 Table 7.2: Results from NSW EPA sampling of treated effluent Council STP (Sewerage Treatment Plants)
Narrung Street STP 1
PFHxA 0.049 ug/l
PFOA 0.07 ug/l
Forest Hill STP 2
6:2 FTS 0.04 ug/l
PFBS 0.02 ug/l
PFHpA 0.01 ug/l
PFHxS 0.016 ug/l
PFHxA 0.055 ug/l
PFOS 0.32 ug/l
PFOA 0.02 ug/l
PFOS+PFHxS 0.48 ug/l
Kooringal STP 3
6:2 FTS 0.021 ug/l
PFHpA 0.03 ug/l
PFHxA 0.030 ug/l
PFOA 0.03 ug/l
Footnotes
1. The Narrung Street STP is located north of the Wagga Wagga CBD Treated effluent is discharged to either the Murrumbidgee River or into the network of effluent reuse/irrigation projects administered by the Council.
2. Forest Hill STP Operated by Council the STP is located approximately 1.2km north of the Base. The STP treats and discharges (as irrigation water) waste water from the Base and surrounding Forest Hill residential area. Biosolids from the plant are spread on land around the STP.
3. Operated by Council the STP is located approximately 6 km west of the Base. Treated effluent from the STP discharges to either the Murrumbidgee River via Marshalls Creek or into the network of effluent reuse/irrigation projects administered by Council. Waste sludge is digested, held in lagoons and then removed to landfill.
(b) Extract Page 90 Table 12.5: Summary of analysis results for wastewater at the Forest Hill STP SW 229 (RAAF influent)
PFOS 0.43 ug/l
PFOS+PFHxS 0.66 ug/l
PFAO 0.06 ug/l
SW 228 (EPA Sampling Point)
PFOS 2.90 ug/l
PFOS+PFHxS 4.33 ug/l
PFAO 0.17 ug/l
(c) Page 90 Table 12.6: Summary of shallow soil sampling results for the Forest Hill STP and effluent irrigation areas
Biosolid application area with STP
PFOS 0,0197 mg/kg
PFOS+PFHxS 0.0202 mg/kg
PFOA 0.0104 mg/kg
Flushing Meadows effluent irrigation area
PFOS 0.0061 mg/kg
PFOS+ PFHxS 0.0061 mg/kg
PFOA 0.0002 mg/kg
180-degree effluent pivot irrigation area
PFOS 0.0056 mg/kg
PFOS + PFHxS 0.0061 mg/l
PFOA 0.0009 mg/kg
360-degree effluent pivot irrigation area
PFOS 0.0061 mg/kg
PFOS+PFHxS 0.0064 mg/kg
2.Forest Hill Landfill
Extract Page 92 Table 12.8: Summary of the results for groundwater sampling at the former Forest Hill landfill
MW218
PFOS 0.03ug/l
PFOS+PFHxS 0.05ug/l
PFAO 0.04ug/l
MW 219
PFOS 0.03 ug/l
PFOS+PFHxS 0.03 ug/l
MW 220
PFOS 0.27 ug/l
PFOS+PFHxS 0.60 ug/l
PFAO 0.02 ug/l
MW221
PFOS 0.07 ug/l
PFOS+PFHxS 0.11 ug/l
PFAO 0.15 ug/l
MW 222
PFOS 0.04 ug/l
PFOS+PFHxS 0. 10ug.l
PFAO 0.04 ug/l