Residents set to sue NSW government and Sydney Water over 'Erin Brockovich-level scandal'
Residents in a tourist hotspot want free tests for cancer-causing 'forever chemicals' in their blood after a major investigation revealed they had been drinking from a contaminated water supply for decades.
PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a group of 15,000 highly toxic, synthetic chemicals resistant to heat, stains and grease, dubbed 'forever chemicals' because of their inability to break down.
High-level contamination was detected in the drinking water catchment serving 30,000 people in the Blue Mountains in NSW in mid-2024.
PFAS levels were found to be about 300 times higher than Sydney 's main drinking water source but they still met Australian guidelines for safe drinking water.
An eight-month WaterNSW investigation released on Friday zeroed in on three potential sources of contamination, dating as far back as 33 years ago.
John Dee, a veteran environmental activist, described the fallout as an 'Erin Brockovich-level scandal'.
He's leading a group called Stop PFAS that will sue the NSW government and Sydney Water to get free PFAS blood testing for local residents and compensation for those affected.
'People in the Blue Mountains have been drinking toxic tap water for 32 years,' he told AAP.
Results of tests paid for by some residents have found PFAS in the bloodstream nearly 50 times the level considered safe by chemicals manufacturer 3M.
Local resident Nick A'hern had 46 nanograms per millilitre of PFAS, contained in firefighting foam and considered carcinogenic.
While the value of individual blood tests is debated among scientists, exposure to PFAS increases the risk of testicular and kidney cancer, affecting the immune system and causing developmental damage in children.
Mr A'hern has had prostate cancer while his wife has had bowel cancer and their 33-year-old son was diagnosed with testicular cancer.
'None of the cancers we've had have been in our family lineage,' he told AAP.
'It's a pretty insane coincidence.
'All the kids used to swim in the dams and the water catchments. We just want to know if they're safe.'
A spokesperson for Sydney Water said it would work with other agencies to ensure it met the proposed Australian Drinking Water Guidelines.
Health authorities say current drinking water meets existing guidelines and is safe to drink.
The WaterNSW investigation found contamination of two dams used for Blue Mountains' drinking water may have occurred after separate motor vehicle accident sites on the Great Western Highway in 1992 and 2002 near the Medlow Bath township.
The town's fire station was also a possible source of contamination.
Test samples at all three sites revealed the chemical compound signature consistent with the historical use of PFAS-containing fire-fighting foam, banned nationwide in 2007.
Medlow Dam and Greaves Creek Dam will remain disconnected from the water supply system until permanent mitigation measures are in place.
Steep terrain, potential PFAS spread over a wide geographical region and extensive disturbance of high-value ecological habitat are all flagged as barriers to remediation.
The report did not quantify the current rate of PFAS discharge from potential source areas in surface water and groundwater, nor the total mass of PFAS previously discharged.
Risks to human health and the environment from exposure to PFAS at the source areas have also not been quantified.
After community pressure, Sydney Water installed a $3.4 million mobile PFAS treatment plant at the Blue Mountains catchment in January.
University of Western Sydney water scientist Ian Wright accused water agencies of having 'pretty average governance of water contamination'.
The National Health and Medical Research Council drafted new drinking water guidelines in October, reducing the benchmark for the PFOA group of chemicals.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Warning over popular drink after mother-of-two develops organ damage from daily habit
A mother-of-two who developed organ damage after drinking several cans of Red on a daily basis has warned against getting 'hooked' on the energy drinks. Lucy Parker, 35, from Perth in Australia, initially booked in for a medical scan to investigate pain she'd been having in her thighs. While the cause of this was revealed to be an ovarian cyst, the scan also revealed signs of serious harm on her liver. Images revealed the vital organ had an extreme build-up of fat which—if left to progress—can lead to organ failure as well as an increased risk of cancer. Ms Parker, who is a healthy weight, blamed her habit of drinking three Red Bulls per day, equivalent to consuming 81g of sugar per day (the equivalent of nearly two and a half Mars bars), for the problem. She's since quit the energy drinks altogether and said follow-up scans have shown signs her liver is recovering. The creative director for a marketing agency admitted she had been 'addicted' to Red Bull. 'If I knew I didn't have a Red Bull in the fridge before I went to bed I would drive out to go and get one or figure out how to get one first thing in the morning,' she said. 'I was having 81 grams of sugar a day in just those drinks. 'When you look at it on a scale there's no way you can eat that much sugar, it would make you sick.' The NHS advises that adults should have less than 30g of sugar per day, meaning Ms Parker was consuming nearly triple the recommended maximum. She added that even her daughters had noticed her reliance on the popular energy drink. 'Even my two kids on Mother's Day at school when they had to write down things about their mum they said "my mum's favourite drink is Red Bull",' she said. Recalling the moment medics gave her the scan results earlier this year, Ms Parker said it was mixture of relief followed by shock. 'Doctors were like "this is what's shown up-there's a cyst on your ovary we'll keep an eye on but that's the not the thing we're worried about",' she said. 'They told me "There's a lot of fat around your liver". 'They said it's basically where fat builds up around the liver and it's not able to work as well as it should.' While this toxic build-up of fat can be caused by drinking large amounts of alcohol, tests later revealed her condition was specifically non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. This is a similar condition which is most commonly seen in overweight or obese individuals, particularly those with a lot of fat around their waist. In its early stages it doesn't trigger any noticeable symptoms, but medics can detect it during scans performed for other reasons, as in Ms Parker's case. If left to progress the disease causes the liver to suffer increasing damage from inflammation, leading to internal scarring of the organ which make it works less effectively. As the liver, which helps with digestion and filtering out toxins, shuts down, patients can begin to experience dull aching pain in their abdomen, extreme fatigue, weight loss and weakness. At the most severe stage this damage becomes permanent, and organ will begin to fail and become at high risk of developing tumours. Ms Parker said that upon getting the diagnosis she immediately quit drinking Red Bull. And a subsequent scan held six weeks later showed this was already showing results. Ms Parker said: 'My doctor said "whatever you have done between the last session and now is working". 'I just said "I've stopped drinking the Red Bull". 'She told me to keep doing that and in six months' time we will have reversed it hopefully.' Ms Parker said she had no 'no symptoms' prior to her diagnosis and urged others with a similar love of energy drinks to get checked. 'I had no pain, no nothing,' she said. 'If someone reading this is drinking the same amount of energy drinks for that period of time I would suggest they get a blood test.' She added this was particularly the case for fellow people with Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) who may be using energy drinks to 'calm down'. 'If you have ADHD it just does the opposite to what it would do for a neurotypical person,' she said. 'It calms me puts everything into check and helps me get through the day.' Official data shows 345 Britons died from non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in 2023, a slight rise from the pervious year's 323 with experts noting the rate had risen significantly since the Covid pandemic. Ms Parker's warning comes after the Government announced plans last year to ban under-16s from buying energy drinks due to concerns they are harming young people's health. Many supermarket chains across the country already have a voluntarily ban on selling the products to minors. But Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said his party would make this mandatory in the run-up to the General Election in 2024. Drinks such as Red Bull, Prime and Monster can have up to 150mg of caffeine, almost double that of a black coffee. With some brands available for as little as 25p a can, many of the energy boosting drinks can be cheaper than bottled water and are a popular pick-me-up among young people.
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Erin Patterson makes new claims about fatal beef Wellington lunch - as she accuses the lone survivor of lying
Accused killer Erin Patterson has refuted claims she told her lunch guests at an ill-fated lunch that she had been diagnosed with cancer. Entering the witness box for a second day on Thursday, Patterson further claimed she had never asked her guests over on the pretext of discussing with them a medical issue. The 50-year-old has pleaded not guilty to the murders of Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson. They died after consuming death cap mushrooms served in beef Wellingtons during lunch at her Leongatha home on July 29, 2023. In opening the trial in the Supreme Court of Victoria, sitting in the Latrobe Valley Magistrates' Court in Victoria's east, Patterson's barrister Colin Mandy, SC told the jury on day one there was no dispute with the prosecution about how and why the guests came be at the lunch. 'It is not in dispute that Erin Patterson invited the guests over for lunch to her house in Leongatha. It is not in dispute that she invited her husband, Simon, over as well because she said she wanted to discuss a health issue that she was concerned about,' he said then. 'That is not in issue. The fact that she's never been diagnosed with cancer is not in issue.' But on Thursday, Patterson told the court she had never mentioned anything to her in-laws about a medical issue to entice them to accept her lunch invite. The jury heard previously evidence from child protection worker Katrina Cripps who claimed on August 1, 2023 at the Monash Medical Centre Patterson told her she had invited her guests over to discuss a medical issue. 'I wouldn't have put it like that because that wasn't the reason I invited people,' Patterson told prosecutor Dr Nanette Rogers under cross examination. 'Ms Cripps is wrong, is she?' Dr Rogers asked. 'Yes,' Patterson responded. 'You deny that?' Dr Rogers continued. 'I didn't say that to her. I told her I had invited Don and Gail and Ian and Heather to lunch and I did confirm we had discussed some medical issues, but I did not tell her that was the reason for the lunch or the reason for the invitation, because it was not,' Patterson said. The jury had heard evidence in the opening days of the trial from Pastor Ian Wilkinson, who was the only person to survive the deadly lunch. Mr Wilkinson claimed Patterson told lunch guests she had undertaken a diagnostic test that showed a spot on the scan that was a tumour. 'I remember him saying that in his evidence, but I don't believe I said that,' Patterson said. 'Might you have said it?' Dr Rogers asked. 'I don't think so, no,' Patterson said. Slowly dying at Korumburra Hospital after the lunch, the court heard Don Patterson also claimed Patterson mentioned she had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer. The court heard Don had told Simon: 'Mum doesn't want me to tell you this. It's about what Erin talked to us about at the lunch.' 'Donald asked if Simon thought he should tell him and Simon said 'yes'. Donald then said, 'Erin told us that she had tests for a medical term relating to something on her elbow 'and that they'd found ovarian cancer. She will probably need chemo and some surgery and she wasn't sure how to tell the kids',' Dr Rogers said at the trial's opening. Patterson told the jury she denied telling her lunch guests she had been diagnosed with cancer. 'I don't think I put it that precisely, no,' she said. 'Well, how did you put it?' Dr Rogers asked. 'I don't remember saying I'd had a diagnosis,' she responded. In what became nothing short of a heated exchange, Dr Rogers bombarded Patterson with questions suggesting she told repeated lies about the deadly lunch. 'You told this lie, I suggest, as part of your efforts to get the lunch guests, and Simon, to attend your lunch; correct or incorrect?' Dr Rogers asked. 'Incorrect,' came the response. 'I suggest that you never thought you would have to account for this lie about having cancer because you thought that the lunch guests would die?' Dr Rogers said. 'That's not true.' 'And your lie would never be found out; correct or incorrect?' 'That's not true,' Patterson insisted. The trial before Justice Christoper Beale continues. . I
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Reality star addresses rumours that his collapsed nose was a result of drugs and partying: 'Can't rule it out'
Timm Hanly has addressed speculation surrounding his collapsed septum in a honest Instagram Q&A - and admitted his partying past could be partly to blame. The former Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise star took to his Stories on Wednesday after fans bombarded him with questions about the noticeable damage to his nose, prompting the 31-year-old to deliver a refreshingly candid explanation. 'Alright, let's just clear things up before we get right into this question box,' he began. '90% of the questions are like, is this from too much cocaine? Is this from too much partying?' And in classic Timm fashion, he didn't shy away from the rumours. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. 'We can't rule out that it wasn't from cocaine or partying 'cause I've done lots of that in my life' he said. 'But I stopped doing that about five years ago when I started Front Runner, and I still had two good nostrils when I ended my partying career,' he admitted. Timm went on to reveal the more likely culprit was a brutal stint in the ring. 'I did have a boxing camp after that, which I got absolutely f***ing pumped in… my nose got broken a couple of times, so I'm gonna say boxing - but we can't completely rule out the cocaine fking conspiracy,' he added with a laugh. 'But yeah, those days are over... I'm done with all that. Everything I do now has a purpose.' The Melbourne-based larrikin has been open about his decision to overhaul his lifestyle in recent years, trading in wild nights out for business meetings and early mornings. Back in 2020, Timm told Daily Mail Australia he was ready for a 'different stage' of his life, crediting his streetwear brand for helping him find purpose after years of partying. 'I'm in a really good place at the moment,' he said at the time. 'It's like part of growing up. It's sort of exciting. It's like I've stepped into a new world.' Timm, known for his cheeky charm and trademark tattoos, launched Front Runner as a way to channel his energy into something productive and positive. 'For the first time in my life I've actually been able to finish something,' he said. 'I normally get too distracted or never find the time to complete things.' In July of that year, he also revealed he'd chosen to go sober after noticing his binge drinking was 'getting out of control'. 'I wasn't a daily drinker, more of a weekend binge drinker, but it would set me back for ages,' he explained. Now focused on health, business and personal growth, Timm has turned his life around – and while he's not denying his chaotic past, he's determined to move forward.
