FORRESTFIELD–AIRPORT
LINK — SOIL CONTAMINATION
1054. Hon Dr STEVE THOMAS to the Minister for Environment:
I refer to the contamination of soil
by chemicals known as per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances—PFAS—from
the site of the Forrestfield–Airport Link tunnelling project, to the
minister's answer to question on notice 465 asked on 31 October 2017 and
to question without notice 1031, which was asked yesterday.
(1) What limit
has been set for PFAS-contaminated soil to be categorised as uncontaminated
fill under the Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Regulations?
(2) What limit has been set for the re-use
of PFAS-contaminated soil as fill in Western Australia?
(3) Where is that limit itemised in
the ''PFAS National Environmental Management Plan''?
(4) How has the government
incorporated this limit into regulation or practice?
(5) How was that limit or threshold
determined and what specific references were used?
Hon
STEPHEN DAWSON replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question.
(1)–(5) The
Department of Water and Environmental Regulation has not set maximum
concentration thresholds for per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances in
uncontaminated fill in its Landfill Waste Classification and Waste Definitions
1996, which was amended in 2018, waste definitions or any other publication.
Chapter 12 of the ''PFAS
National Environmental Management Plan'' provides nationally consistent
guidance on the re-use of PFAS-contaminated materials. It does not set specific
re-use concentration thresholds. Environmental guideline values to inform site
investigations and risk assessments are set out in chapter 8 of the NEMP. The
Public Transport Authority has informed the department that it has assessed
whether soil material from the Forrestfield–Airport Link project is
waste, having regard to the department's ''Factsheet —
Assessing whether material is waste''. The Public Transport Authority
considers that the material is not waste. In accordance with the flowchart on
page 6 of the department's ''Factsheet — Amendments to
the Environmental Protection Regulations 1987 — clean fill and
uncontaminated fill'', the testing requirements and thresholds for
uncontaminated fill in the waste definitions are not relevant to material that
is not waste. I will table both factsheets.
Independent of any consideration as
to whether or not a material is considered to be waste, the general pollution
offence provisions of the Environmental Protection Act 1986 apply to all
activities, including the proposed use of soil material from the Forrestfield–Airport
Link project. The department has worked closely with the Public Transport
Authority to ensure that appropriate management actions are being taken to
ensure that it complies with these provisions.
[See paper 2129.]