A public meeting to discuss development of a national plan for dealing with PFAS chemicals in the environment will now be aired online.
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Some Katherine residents have questioned why regulators would hold the meeting in Darwin when the obvious hot spot for PFAS contamination is in Katherine.
Health officials around the world are grappling with the problem of the PFAS chemicals.
PFAS contained in firefighting foams once used at the Tindal RAAF Base have leached into the groundwater and contaminated Katherine’s drinking water.
Katherine residents have now been invited to submit questions about the PFAS National Environmental Management Plan that has been released for public comment.
The questions can be emailed to PFASNEMP@epa.vic.gov.au and those received by September 6 will be addressed during a public presentation about the draft plan in Darwin next month.
This email address can also be used to RSVP your attendance at the presentation.
Territorians interested in attending the presentation should note it will now be held from 10am on Thursday, September 7, at the Bonaparte Room, Novotel Darwin Airport.
The presentation will also be livestreamed via the Department of Environment and Natural Resources facebook page https://www.facebook.com/denrnt/
The PFAS NEMP aims to provide governments with a consistent, practical, risk-based framework for the environmental regulation of PFAS-contaminated materials and sites.
This presentation will introduce the PFAS NEMP, discuss the timeline and process for development and outline how Territorians can have their say.
The PFAS NEMP is being developed as an adaptive plan, able to respond to emerging research and knowledge with a copy of the consultation draft available atwww.ntepa.nt.gov.au
PFAS are of emerging global concern because they are persistent in the environment and may potentially pose a risk to human health and the environment.
Development of the draft Plan stemmed from a PFAS regulators Summit held in Melbourne earlier this year that was attended by NT EPA officers.
The summit outcomes have been used to support the development of the PFAS NEMP consultation draft, which outlines a nationally consistent approach to the environmental regulation of PFAS.
Anyone with an interest in PFAS management is urged to read through the draft plan and provide comment before the September 25 deadline.
The National Chemicals Working Group of the Heads of EPAs Australia and New Zealand (HEPA) is developing the Plan in consultation with relevant Australian Government, state and territory agencies.