There is an air of excitement and surprise in Katherine this morning with people comparing potential PFAS settlement windfalls.
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Many people have received letters from the Federal Court over the past few days advising of the size of their expected payout from the successful class action over chemical contamination of the town.
At first blush, individual amounts seem to average about $70,000.
Katherine Times has been shown one letter of advice from the court for what would be considered a normal house block in the town with an expected payout of just over $50,000.
The court stresses these amounts are an estimate only although some research has been done on property sizes, location and whether it has a bore or not to calculate property values.
As one property owner said, the settlement figure does not compensate for the total loss of value but they are still surprised by the amount of the sum.
The numbers of those involved and the high legal costs of the action all had to be considered.
Residents have also been invited to write to the court to comment on the size of the settlement, which is a once-off payment.
Katherine residents were awarded $92.5 million as a result of the successful class action against the Federal Government on PFAS contamination.
The contamination came from fire fighting foams once used in training at the nearby Tindal RAAF Base.
While early on there were about 2500 property owners who were part of the claim, the Katherine Times has been told the numbers of those registered for the claim are now being withheld.
The court will sit again for a further hearing on June 4-5 on the settlement offer from the Defence Department.
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