The Auckland Council has begun identifying people around Whenuapai airbase who have bores for water that may be impacted by firefighting foam runoff.
Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
Councillors were briefed yesterday by government officials for the first time about the contamination issue.
They only found out a few days ago, apparently via an RNZ report, about what the Defence Force has known since 2016 - that parts of Devonport naval base have tested high for foam contamination.
At the same time they found out about preliminary tests at Whenuapai airbase, three years after similiar tests at Ōhakea in Manawatū found foam contamination of groundwater there.
"With the emergence of concerns in the Auckland region, government agencies have begun working with Auckland Council on the issue, to ensure local knowledge, expertise and experience can be brought to bear," the Environment Ministry said in a statement after yesterday's briefing.
It is understood a Defence Force staffer at the briefing was pressed about why Defence never informed the council about the contamination.
Last August, Defence told the government there was a "significant land contamination issue" at Devonport and Whenuapai.
The chemicals called PFOS and PFOA are not acutely toxic, and research into their long-term impacts on human health is not conclusive.
Last Thursday the Environment Ministry told the council in an internal memo that "new information" showed some Whenuapai people might be using bore water for drinking.
Upper Harbour Local Board Chair Lisa Whyte said no one at the briefing asked officials what the "new information" was, and officials did not talk about it.
"I am curious as the local board chair who represents the people who live in this area, who may potentially have an issue with contaminated groundwater, but at the moment we're only speculating because we don't have the investigation results," Ms Whyte said.
"Arguably anyone who has a bore in the ground could use the water for anything."
When RNZ asked if she would be asking the Ministry for the new information, Ms Whyte hung up.
The council is now going through its records of who has a consent to use water from a bore in the area around the airbase.
A research report said in 2011 that the wider area around Whenuapai had 530 or so bores.
"We are committed to helping all the agencies involved in this issue to get important information to Aucklanders in a timely manner," said the council's chief operating officer Dean Kimpton in a statement.
Both he and Auckland Mayor Phil Goff have turned down requests from RNZ for an interview.
"The council is also exploring the regulatory tools it has to respond to this contamination," Mr Kimpton said, "especially in the context of other (non-government-owned) sites in the region that need attention."
RNZ asked what that meant. The council then said the Ministry for the Environment had asked "regional councils and unitary authorities, like Auckland Council, across the country to help identify any sites in their region potentially contaminated with PFAS that may pose a risk to health and the environment".
The class of chemicals called PFAS, which includes the firefighting foam chemicals, are persistent, manmade chemicals that have rung increasing alarm bells for more than 15 years for their impacts on the environment and people's health.
They are present in many items such as nonstick saucepans and some rainjackets, as the chemicals repel water.
A Massey University study in 2013 showed 100 percent of the sample of New Zealanders had some form of PFAS in their bodies, though at much lower rates than the US, Canada, Germany, and Australia.
The Enviroment Ministry had advised contaminated places could range from firefighting training facilities to manufacturing and waste disposal sites, Auckland Council said.
It would now be going through current and historical property records across many databases to assess where the highest risks were, then get in touch with land owners if it needed to, it said.
Fire and Emergency is already investigating its own major training sites for any contamination from PFAS-based foams.