FORRESTFIELD–AIRPORT
LINK — SOIL CONTAMINATION
1117. Hon Dr STEVE THOMAS to the minister representing the
Minister for Transport:
I refer to PFAS-contaminated soil
excavated from the Forrestfield–Airport Link project.
(1) Is the
Airport Central station excavation a component of the FAL project?
(2) Can the
minister confirm that 100 000 cubic metres of spoil from the Airport Central
station excavation is currently being stored on the Perth Airport estate?
(3) Is the Public
Transport Authority, Perth Airport Corporation, or the FAL main works
contractor responsible for the spoil excavated from the Airport Central
station?
(4) If none of
those listed in part (3) are responsible, who is?
(5) What is the
total amount of spoil that has now been excavated from the FAL project?
(6) What amount
of the total amount of spoil contains measurable levels of PFAS?
Hon Tjorn
Sibma: Great question!
The PRESIDENT:
It was a long question, I might add.
Hon
STEPHEN DAWSON replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question. The following answer has been provided to me by
the Minister for Transport.
(1)–(2) Yes.
(3) The legal
producer of the material is the state through the Public Transport Authority.
(4) Not
applicable.
(5) It is 815 000
cubic metres.
(6) PFAS are ubiquitous and can be found at low levels
in soils, surface water and groundwater in most urban areas in Western Australia
and nationally. Although soil from all project excavation locations has been
tested for PFAS, and detectable levels have been found in some samples, the
highest soil readings measured are low and comparable with the low levels
present in most urban areas around the world, including in Australia. The soil
is capable of re-use in accordance with the PFAS national environmental
management plan.