Katherine residents have had the chance to talk to Defence about the PFAS investigation at a Community Shopfront.
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Following Defence’s PFAS update on Monday night at Knotts Crossing, which left many upset, some residents were eager for more information.
Representatives from Defence, Coffey, the Department of Health, Department of Human Services, NT Health, NT Environmental Protection Agency, Power and Water Corporation, and the Australian National University were on hand to discuss PFAS issues.
Assistant secretary of the PFAS investigation and management, Luke McLeod, said visitors to the Shopfront were seeking answers to a range of questions.
“There were certainly questions about blood tests,” Mr McLeod said.
“A number of people have come in asking about the associated health impacts,” he said.
Mr McLeod said people were also seeking information about what Defence is doing to remove PFAS from the base while others were concerned with the findings of the recently released Human Health Risk Assessment.
The Community Shopfront was open to the public in the Woolworths Complex yesterday and today.
About 17 people visited on the first day, Mr McLeod said.
And by lunchtime today, about six people had sought out information from the representatives.
“We tried not to anticipate numbers,” Mr McLeod said, “the Shopfront provided an opportunity for people to access officials.”
Defence and other representatives will be back in Katherine in the next three months, Mr McLeod said, to discuss the Ecological Risk Assessment.
“We are also looking at running another presentation,” he said.