FORRESTFIELD–AIRPORT
LINK — SOIL CONTAMINATION
1203. Hon Dr STEVE THOMAS to the Leader of the House
representing the Minister for Public Sector Management:
I refer to the Department of the
Premier and Cabinet letter reference D1711181 from the director general of the
Department of the Premier and Cabinet to the deputy secretary of the federal
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, dated 15 December 2017, obtained
through freedom of information.
(1) How did the
director general or the state come to the view that there is currently a commonwealth
restriction preventing Perth Airport Pty Ltd from storing and using PFAS-contaminated material on the Perth Airport site, as stated
on page 3?
(2) What evidence or documentation
was used to form this view, and will the minister please table it?
(3) Will the
minister please table the development agreement between the Public Transport
Authority and Perth Airport Pty Ltd, as cited on page 3?
(4) If no to (3), why not?
(5) Given that
this position was known in December 2017, why has the Minister for Transport
now acknowledged that the PTA is the owner of
100 000 cubic metres of PFAS-contaminated spoil from the Forrestfield–Airport
Link project, currently stored on the Perth Airport estate, and what will the
government do about it?
Hon SUE
ELLERY replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question.
(1) The state
government was advised of a commonwealth government requirement that airport
lessees ensure that any fill brought onto airport sites was PFAS free
separately by both Perth Airport and the commonwealth. The state government
understands that this restriction was removed following the release of the PFAS
national environmental management plan.
(2) Not applicable.
(3) The Premier is not the
responsible minister for the Public Transport Authority.
(4) Not applicable.
(5) The stockpile area in question is a temporary
storage area and the PTA has always been the legal owner of the 100 000 cubic metres of spoil from the
Forrestfield–Airport Link Airport Central Station box excavation,
which was then stored nearby in the stockpile area. Perth Airport remains
interested in utilising the soil to facilitate developments consistent with the
airport master plan. While negotiations for this re-use are ongoing, it is
practical to leave the stockpile in situ until the matter is resolved.