A lag of nearly a decade for Australia to act on global agreement to phase out the chemical at the centre of the Williamtown crisis has been slammed as “shameful”.
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But community groups and Labor have broadly welcomed news the government appears to be moving towards a ban on perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), which would bring Australia into line with 171 countries that ratified the listing of the chemical on the Stockholm Convention in 2009.
While a final decision will rest with the Turnbull government, the Department of Environment has released a report recommending the listing be ratified and the chemical banned.
“We welcome the statement by the Department of Environment, but do not accept the length of time it has taken them to recommend a ban on the chemical,” said Lindsay Clout, speaking on behalf of action groups from Williamtown, Fullerton Cove and Salt Ash.
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Member for Port Stephens Kate Washington labelled it shameful that a ban was not already in place, given the international efforts to eliminate use of the chemical over the last decade.
A ban was also the recommendation of a 2015 senate inquiry and was introduced by the Queensland state government last year, she said.
“The government's inaction reflects its reluctance to connect PFOS with impacts on human health,” she said.
“Since the contamination of Williamtown became public, it's been bleedingly obvious that government decisions have been influenced by concerns of liability, not humanity.
“The federal government seems to view any action as an admission of liability, so it continues to do nothing.”
Mr Clout said residents were struck by the difference in attitude, when comparing the approach of the Department of Environment to the Department of Defence.
“The statement ‘it is not currently possible to estimate a safe level of PFOS’ and the international acceptance by scientific experts and governments of various adverse human health and environmental effects, contradicts the case pleaded by the Department of Defence that levels can be ‘low and acceptable’ and that there are ‘no known health impacts’.
“The Williamtown, Fullerton Cove and Salt Ash communities and the environment are the ones continuing to suffer and the federal government continues to fail us all.”
The Stockholm Convention, brokered through the United Nations, aims to eliminate persistent organic pollutants posing a risk to the environment and human health.
Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg could not be reached for comment.
