Related — Toxic foam: Lack of central govt help in investigation
“New Zealand Defence Force is blocking a regional council from getting vital information it needs to investigate toxic firefighting foam contamination in its water supply.
Horizons Regional Council covers the area from Ruapehu to Horewhenua. It asked NZDF weeks ago for modelling about groundwater movements under the contaminated Ohakea airbase – it received nothing. The Ministry for the Environment also refused its plea for help trying to finding out how drinking water in Bulls was contaminated with low levels of foam chemicals, PFAS…
‘On a number of occasions we’ve been told that information will come through to us, and then at later dates we’ve been told that we will not get that information.’
Dr Roygard said only central government had the expertise to map the extent of contamination.
A spokesperson for the All of Government Programme on PFAS said the complete databse of test results had been shared with Horizons, both on April 17 and more upcoming on June 6.
‘NZDF’s technical consultants advise that it is highly unlikely that the PFAS detected in Bulls originated from Ohakea as it would be going against the ground water flow,’ the spokesperson said.
‘To support Rangitikei District Council and Horizons Regional Council to determine possible sources of PFAS in the Bulls water supply, NZDF undertook to investigate the site of a Skyhawk aircraft crash that occurred in 1996.’
Horizons said that Skyhawk investigation was not broad enough.”
Read the full article by Phil Pennington