Medlow Dam PFAS Contamination - Private Members' Statement
In August 2024 WaterNSW shut down Medlow Dam after high levels of PFAS forever chemicals were found. That was after reporting by The Sydney Morning Herald in June, which showed alarmingly high levels of PFAS forever chemicals waterways feeding into the Blue Mountains water supply, including Medlow Dam.
On 31 January 2025 consultancy firm Jacobs released an initial report into the contamination. A bit over four months later, on 16 May 2025, WaterNSW released the first stage of its investigation. That report stated:
WaterNSW … is commencing further detailed investigations with support from the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA), to refine potential source identification and appropriate management actions.
It also stated that the initial investigation identified three potential sources of contamination, including the site of a petrol tanker crash on the Great Western Highway in 1992, which was also identified in the Jacobs report, based upon investigative work undertaken by impacted residents who identified the 1992 tanker crash, in which a huge amount of toxic firefighting foam was used. The community also funded independent water testing that found high levels of PFAS immediately downstream of the crash site in contrast with water tests undertaken above it. In November last year the EPA visited 16 properties in Medlow Bath near the 1992 crash site. Residents were advised not to eat homegrown vegetables after PFAS was detected in some of the soil samples collected that were above health guidelines. That is an understatement. PFAS in soil samples was found at elevated levels on three separate properties, at 40 times, 43 times and 53 times higher than the national investigation level.
What is the Government doing now, 1¾ years later? We are told it is undertaking further assessment and review of the initial investigation, water sampling, and a human health and ecological risk assessment. That will take 12 months to complete and is being coordinated by the Premier's Department. The Premier has taken control, more than 18 months after residents first learned they may have been drinking PFAS contaminated water since 1992. The Government wants to control an issue that is making it look bad and to kick the issue to beyond the next election. The least NSW Health should do is offer impacted Blue Mountains residents blood testing, but it is refusing to do that. Luckily, local community action group Stop PFAS Blue Mountains has not stopped fighting for justice. It has a class action that will fund 2,000 blood tests for residents.