Australian PFAS Chemicals Map

Bullsbrook residents’ row with Defence Department continues over PFAS ‘forever’ chemicals

August 13 2025 by Cason Ho ABC News

The Department of Defence is refusing to replace residential pipes and water systems in a Perth town it contaminated with “forever chemicals”.

Bullsbrook, north of Perth, is home to one of several sites across the country which were contaminated with chemicals from firefighting foam used at military bases.

PFAS — or per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances — is an umbrella term for a group of chemicals that do not break down, and can accumulate in soil, water, and human bodies.

The federal government settled a class action in 2023 over PFAS contamination at seven sites, including Bullsbrook, and paid $132.7 million to about 30,000 claimants.

Defence has been working to connect more than 200 properties in Bullsbrook to scheme water by March 2026, including installing devices to prevent water from properties flowing back into the mains system.

The project is part of the “management and remediation” of PFAS contamination around the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Pearce air base.

However, progress has reached a standstill for some residents who believe the internal pipework and hot water systems in their properties also need to be replaced, which the ABC understands the department has refused to do.

“I still can’t believe we’re having this conversation … you’ve got a contaminated source, it sent water through pipes, it’s contaminated your whole household,” Ms Haswell said.

“We’ve been on bottled water since 2016 — our lives are still on hold 10 plus years later.”

The department has agreed to fund the scheme water connection and the installation of back-flow prevention devices.

Ms Haswell was the lead applicant in the class action lawsuit against the Commonwealth.

Last month, she raised concerns with Defence that residents would ultimately still be using potentially contaminated water if internal piping was not replaced.

‘Our lives are still on hold’

In letters sent to residents in 2022, seen by the ABC, the Department of Defence outlined the funding arrangement for scheme water connections in West Bullsbrook.

“Defence will fund any infrastructure required to connect the property to the mains pipeline, as well as any necessary plumbing works on your property and dwelling,” the letter said.

Bullsbrook resident Reannan Haswell said the “necessary plumbing works” should include pipes and water systems inside homes.

In an email response to Ms Haswell, the department said it had no record of any commitment to replace pipework or hot water systems in homes.

“At the time of water connection, Defence will provide instructions for the flushing of internal pipes in the residences where PFAS-impacted groundwater was previously used,” the email read.

“Defence will offer to collect water samples from your taps for analysis to ensure the water meets the Australian standards for safe drinking with respect to PFAS concentrations.”

Contamination ‘not fixed’

Ms Haswell said she wasn’t convinced they could flush the pipes clean of PFAS.

“You can’t flush it … hence why the original plan of a portable filtration device on everyone’s premise back in 2016 was not an option,” she said.

“It is a forever man-made chemical — it cannot be eradicated.”

The Department of Defence had not responded to the ABC’s enquiries by the time of publication.

Ms Haswell said she felt compelled to speak out for impacted residents and taxpayers.

“I thought a class action would have had that nailed on the head … it’s still not fixed, it’s still not resolved,” she said.

“They’re just woefully wasting money to give people scheme water that’s not safe.”

Bullsbrook community to get fresh water supply after toxic PFAS firefighting foam contamination

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-16/bullsbrook-to-get-fresh-water-toxic-pfas-firefighting-foam/101780614

Property owners of land contaminated by a toxic firefighting chemical are still years away from receiving a fresh water supply, but say they are progressing towards the end of what will be a decade-long saga.

The semi-rural suburb of Bullsbrook, about 40 minutes north of Perth, is home to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Pearce air base.

Decades of firefighting drills in the past by the Australian Defence Force have seen the chemical, called Per-and poly-fluoroalkyl substances or PFAS, leach into the soil around the base.

Bullsbrook Residents and Ratepayers Association president, Anne Janes, said many people in the area drank bore water from their properties in the past.

“It’s caused great problems for the people to actually think that they might have a dangerous carcinogenic chemical in their drinking water.”

Plans underway to supply fresh water

The government has announced it plans to provide residents with fresh water through about 15 kilometres of pipe.

It is a relief for many locals, including Kyra Burns, who has lived in Bullsbrook for more than two decades.

“We’re still looking at about two to three years away which, while still seems a long way down the track, is the light at the end of the tunnel, which I don’t think we’ve previously had.”

The Department of Defence hopes to complete water connections to households by the end of 2025. 

For some households like Ms Burns’, it meant continuing to drink from plastic bottles.

“It’s another $2,000 a year I’m going to have to spend … on providing my own water,” she said.

“It’s just tiring. But, like I said, I think we can see a way forward now.”

Some residents have been provided bottled water by the government, but not every property owner was eligible for the scheme, according to Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and Defence Personnel Matt Keogh, who attended a community walk-in session on Friday morning.

“This was an important session for us to hear directly from the community about their ongoing concerns with PFAS,” he said.

Mr Keogh and the Department of Defence said they would consider concerns raised by the community, but could not commit to providing water for residents like Ms Burns in the interim, while the water connections were being made.

“We’ll go back and consider these concerns about what we can do in the meantime until their homes are connected.” 

The ‘forever chemical’ that accumulates in human bodies

PFAS do not break down and can accumulate in soil, in water, and even in human bodies, which is why the Australian Department of Health recommends minimising exposure.

Bullsbrook resident Reannan Haswell has lived with the consequences of accumulating PFAS around her property for years, and is the lead applicant of an ongoing class action lawsuit against the Australian Government.

“It’s a lifetime chemical. It’s a forever chemical. There is no way to retrieve it and remove it once it’s out,” she said.

“We’ve been on bottled water for god knows how long now.”

Nationwide class action underway

Property owners are in the process of suing the government for the impact PFAS has had on properties, land values, and livelihoods in the area.

It’s part of one of Australia’s largest ever class actions, filed by Shine Lawyers, which is still actively seeking registrations from property owners in contamination sites across the country. 

It includes locations in Adelaide, Darwin, Melbourne, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Bullsbrook in Western Australia.

Ms Haswell said the government’s proposed water infrastructure plan would mean property owners may begin seeing water bills they’ve never had.

“We all bought out there on the premise that the water we were living on was bore,” she said.

“No one should have to pay for it. It’s not our stuff up.”

“The Australian government contaminated our water … I think the better option would be to make sure that fellow people in our community don’t actually have to pay for water. Full stop.”

In 2021, the federal government paid out $215.5 million to settle class action lawsuits with communities affected by PFAS contamination in the Northern Territory, Queensland and New South Wales.

The government has maintained PFAS exposure “has not been shown to cause disease in humans”, and is “unlikely to be important to health outcomes”, which contradicts some international opinion.

The US Government claims high exposure to certain PFAS may lead to adverse health outcomes including decreased fertility, developmental effects in children, and increased risk of some cancers.

Foam contamination affects 26 WA homes

https://au.news.yahoo.com/foam-contamination-affects-26-wa-homes-091128014–spt.html

July 10 2019

Residents of a semi-rural area near Perth where bores have been contaminated with toxic chemicals from firefighting foam have been told just over two dozen properties still require bottled water.

Many people in West Bullsbrook have been forced to use the Department of Defence-supplied water for the past three years after it was discovered PFAS (per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances) had leached from the RAAF Pearce air base.

At a community meeting on Wednesday, the department said the contamination wasn’t as widespread as initially thought, so the residents of all but 26 properties could now revert to drinking from their bores.

But there are calls for the provision of scheme water and compensation for dramatically lower property values, which could be through class action.

City of Swan deputy mayor Kevin Bailey supports the scheme water push, backed by Member for Pearce Christian Porter and WA water minister Dave Kelly.

“We think that’s the ultimate solution,” Mr Bailey told AAP.

“It would finalise the process and there would be no need for ongoing monitoring.”

How many levels of government paid for it would be the contentious issue, he said.

2019/2025: West Bullsbrook – PFAS impacting on 26 homes (Western Australia)

in ,

Bullsbrook residents’ row with Defence Department continues over PFAS ‘forever’ chemicals

August 13 2025 by Cason Ho ABC News

The Department of Defence is refusing to replace residential pipes and water systems in a Perth town it contaminated with “forever chemicals”.

Bullsbrook, north of Perth, is home to one of several sites across the country which were contaminated with chemicals from firefighting foam used at military bases.

PFAS — or per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances — is an umbrella term for a group of chemicals that do not break down, and can accumulate in soil, water, and human bodies.

The federal government settled a class action in 2023 over PFAS contamination at seven sites, including Bullsbrook, and paid $132.7 million to about 30,000 claimants.

Defence has been working to connect more than 200 properties in Bullsbrook to scheme water by March 2026, including installing devices to prevent water from properties flowing back into the mains system.

The project is part of the “management and remediation” of PFAS contamination around the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Pearce air base.

However, progress has reached a standstill for some residents who believe the internal pipework and hot water systems in their properties also need to be replaced, which the ABC understands the department has refused to do.

“I still can’t believe we’re having this conversation … you’ve got a contaminated source, it sent water through pipes, it’s contaminated your whole household,” Ms Haswell said.

“We’ve been on bottled water since 2016 — our lives are still on hold 10 plus years later.”

The department has agreed to fund the scheme water connection and the installation of back-flow prevention devices.

Ms Haswell was the lead applicant in the class action lawsuit against the Commonwealth.

Last month, she raised concerns with Defence that residents would ultimately still be using potentially contaminated water if internal piping was not replaced.

‘Our lives are still on hold’

In letters sent to residents in 2022, seen by the ABC, the Department of Defence outlined the funding arrangement for scheme water connections in West Bullsbrook.

“Defence will fund any infrastructure required to connect the property to the mains pipeline, as well as any necessary plumbing works on your property and dwelling,” the letter said.

Bullsbrook resident Reannan Haswell said the “necessary plumbing works” should include pipes and water systems inside homes.

In an email response to Ms Haswell, the department said it had no record of any commitment to replace pipework or hot water systems in homes.

“At the time of water connection, Defence will provide instructions for the flushing of internal pipes in the residences where PFAS-impacted groundwater was previously used,” the email read.

“Defence will offer to collect water samples from your taps for analysis to ensure the water meets the Australian standards for safe drinking with respect to PFAS concentrations.”

Contamination ‘not fixed’

Ms Haswell said she wasn’t convinced they could flush the pipes clean of PFAS.

“You can’t flush it … hence why the original plan of a portable filtration device on everyone’s premise back in 2016 was not an option,” she said.

“It is a forever man-made chemical — it cannot be eradicated.”

The Department of Defence had not responded to the ABC’s enquiries by the time of publication.

Ms Haswell said she felt compelled to speak out for impacted residents and taxpayers.

“I thought a class action would have had that nailed on the head … it’s still not fixed, it’s still not resolved,” she said.

“They’re just woefully wasting money to give people scheme water that’s not safe.”

Bullsbrook community to get fresh water supply after toxic PFAS firefighting foam contamination

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-16/bullsbrook-to-get-fresh-water-toxic-pfas-firefighting-foam/101780614

Property owners of land contaminated by a toxic firefighting chemical are still years away from receiving a fresh water supply, but say they are progressing towards the end of what will be a decade-long saga.

The semi-rural suburb of Bullsbrook, about 40 minutes north of Perth, is home to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Pearce air base.

Decades of firefighting drills in the past by the Australian Defence Force have seen the chemical, called Per-and poly-fluoroalkyl substances or PFAS, leach into the soil around the base.

Bullsbrook Residents and Ratepayers Association president, Anne Janes, said many people in the area drank bore water from their properties in the past.

“It’s caused great problems for the people to actually think that they might have a dangerous carcinogenic chemical in their drinking water.”

Plans underway to supply fresh water

The government has announced it plans to provide residents with fresh water through about 15 kilometres of pipe.

It is a relief for many locals, including Kyra Burns, who has lived in Bullsbrook for more than two decades.

“We’re still looking at about two to three years away which, while still seems a long way down the track, is the light at the end of the tunnel, which I don’t think we’ve previously had.”

The Department of Defence hopes to complete water connections to households by the end of 2025.

For some households like Ms Burns’, it meant continuing to drink from plastic bottles.

“It’s another $2,000 a year I’m going to have to spend … on providing my own water,” she said.

“It’s just tiring. But, like I said, I think we can see a way forward now.”

Some residents have been provided bottled water by the government, but not every property owner was eligible for the scheme, according to Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and Defence Personnel Matt Keogh, who attended a community walk-in session on Friday morning.

“This was an important session for us to hear directly from the community about their ongoing concerns with PFAS,” he said.

Mr Keogh and the Department of Defence said they would consider concerns raised by the community, but could not commit to providing water for residents like Ms Burns in the interim, while the water connections were being made.

“We’ll go back and consider these concerns about what we can do in the meantime until their homes are connected.”

The ‘forever chemical’ that accumulates in human bodies

PFAS do not break down and can accumulate in soil, in water, and even in human bodies, which is why the Australian Department of Health recommends minimising exposure.

Bullsbrook resident Reannan Haswell has lived with the consequences of accumulating PFAS around her property for years, and is the lead applicant of an ongoing class action lawsuit against the Australian Government.

“It’s a lifetime chemical. It’s a forever chemical. There is no way to retrieve it and remove it once it’s out,” she said.

“We’ve been on bottled water for god knows how long now.”

Nationwide class action underway

Property owners are in the process of suing the government for the impact PFAS has had on properties, land values, and livelihoods in the area.

It’s part of one of Australia’s largest ever class actions, filed by Shine Lawyers, which is still actively seeking registrations from property owners in contamination sites across the country.

It includes locations in Adelaide, Darwin, Melbourne, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Bullsbrook in Western Australia.

Ms Haswell said the government’s proposed water infrastructure plan would mean property owners may begin seeing water bills they’ve never had.

“We all bought out there on the premise that the water we were living on was bore,” she said.

“No one should have to pay for it. It’s not our stuff up.”

“The Australian government contaminated our water … I think the better option would be to make sure that fellow people in our community don’t actually have to pay for water. Full stop.”

In 2021, the federal government paid out $215.5 million to settle class action lawsuits with communities affected by PFAS contamination in the Northern Territory, Queensland and New South Wales.

The government has maintained PFAS exposure “has not been shown to cause disease in humans”, and is “unlikely to be important to health outcomes”, which contradicts some international opinion.

The US Government claims high exposure to certain PFAS may lead to adverse health outcomes including decreased fertility, developmental effects in children, and increased risk of some cancers.

Foam contamination affects 26 WA homes

https://au.news.yahoo.com/foam-contamination-affects-26-wa-homes-091128014–spt.html

July 10 2019

Residents of a semi-rural area near Perth where bores have been contaminated with toxic chemicals from firefighting foam have been told just over two dozen properties still require bottled water.

Many people in West Bullsbrook have been forced to use the Department of Defence-supplied water for the past three years after it was discovered PFAS (per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances) had leached from the RAAF Pearce air base.

At a community meeting on Wednesday, the department said the contamination wasn’t as widespread as initially thought, so the residents of all but 26 properties could now revert to drinking from their bores.

But there are calls for the provision of scheme water and compensation for dramatically lower property values, which could be through class action.

City of Swan deputy mayor Kevin Bailey supports the scheme water push, backed by Member for Pearce Christian Porter and WA water minister Dave Kelly.

“We think that’s the ultimate solution,” Mr Bailey told AAP.

“It would finalise the process and there would be no need for ongoing monitoring.”

How many levels of government paid for it would be the contentious issue, he said.