29 January 2025

ALAN HAYES

 

RESIDENTS living in the Central Coast’s northern suburbs, near areas in close proximity to power stations, which have been contaminated by PFAS (per-and poly-fluoroalkyl substances - deadly ‘forever chemicals’), and close to coal-ash dams, fear they have unusually higher rates of cancer than elsewhere across the coast. Wyong and its surrounding areas have some of the highest rates of individual cancers, including colorectal cancer in men, which is 44 per cent above the state average, and lung cancer at 53 per cent above average for men and 43 per cent in women.

 

Yet the plight of Central Coast residents has become a ‘cry in the wilderness’ for help – lawmakers and the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) have sweep the problem of PFAS and the contamination from the power stations under the carpet. They have ignored the real concerns of the public, except to declare affected areas significantly contaminated sites.

 

Now the PFAS saga and ground and air contamination has taken on a new twist! Suddenly, without apparent qualification from the EPA, two ‘Lake Closed’ signs appeared on the banks of Lake Munmorah’s popular Tom Burke Reserve prior to Christmas. Both the signs were in English only and neither of them give a reason as to why the lake had been closed.

 

Future Sooner spokesperson, Gary Blaschke OAM, said he was horrified to see a young family fishing and swimming within a stone’s throw of one of the signs unaware of the health danger.

 

“After several phone calls to the Central Coast Council I was eventually told the lake was closed due to contamination from faecal coliforms escaping from a nearby broken pipe,” Gary Blaschke said.

 

“To speak plainly, the presence of faecal coliform means the water has been contaminated with sewage from human and/or animal poo (faeces). This indicates the possible presence of disease-causing bacteria, viruses, and protozoans. So swimming in the lake and eating shellfish can make you sick.

 

“Council then told me the problem had been addressed, and the lake was now safe again. When I asked if they had also tested for PFAS in the water, they told me it was not their job. Interestingly, the two signs remained in place for another four days.

 

The biggest problem with Lake Munmorah is that it takes 520 days to circulate. So, PFAS, sewerage and faeces accumulate and build up in the water –they don’t just go away. Hundreds of families could have been at risk during thew Christmas / New Year holiday period.

 

“Protecting the health of residents and visitors is the job of Council. Two signs, one language, no detail, is not good enough. Not testing for PFAS in the water is not good enough. We need a council that takes its duty of care of residents and tourists seriously. One that will keep our lake system clean and safe for everyone,” Mr Blaschke said.

 

“The EPA has distributed at least four Media Releases since the decommissioning of Lake Munmorah and Colongra Bay power stations began, assuring the public that the contaminated lands and waters were safe for recreation and the consumption of fish. Yet in 2024 the EPA then declared the sites as ‘significantly contaminated’ due to PFAS and hydrocarbon contamination.”

 

The definition of ‘significantly contaminated’ land by the EPA under the Contaminated Land Management Act 1997 is land that poses an unacceptable risk. What this indicates is the substance (PFAS) has already caused harm, that it is toxic, bio-accumulative or is present in large quantities. Furthermore, it has exposure pathways causing the land in question, and the adjoining land and waterways, are increasingly put at risk of harm with the substances having migrated.

 

Yet a recent Development Application by Generator Property Management (GPM) with Central Coast Council for a water (PFAS) treatment plant on the decommissioned power station sites will require the plant to operate for ten years, suggesting that a far greater problem may be lurking beneath the ground’s surface, particularly in migrating subterranean water systems that feed the adjoining lakes.

 

It is known, and has been previously reported, PFAS has migrated into the Tuggerah Lakes system - a fact that was not recorded by Central Coast Council in water samplings.

 

Although it was thought groundwater was only moving towards the centre of the decommissioned sites, a PFAS plume exists in the centre of Lake Munmorah.

 

It is not unreasonable to conclude that the contamination of the sites and waterways poses a far more serious problem, which was not reflected in the former EPA media releases. Especially in light of the EPA’s May 2024 declaration that pollution issues in other areas of the sites, including the coal ash repository, will continue to be regulated under an existing government protection licence - seemingly this has failed, again posing unacceptable risks.

 

"The EPA have known about this contamination since 2016, if not earlier, and only now the proposal of a water treatment plant, needing ten years to operate, has been approved by Central Coast Council," said Community Advocate Gary Blaschke.

 

"The managers of the Munmorah site, Generator Property Management and Snowy Hydro Fire, are now relying on nine year old seafood testing results, stating that it is safe for limited consumption. Yet much more PFAS, Hydrocarbons and sewage have flowed or leached into the lakes system over the past nine years," Blaschke said.

 

Future Sooner has also been calling for a moratorium on new housing developments around the poisonous ash dams, chimney stacks and contaminated land at Vales Point, Lake Munmorah/Colongra and Eraring coal-fired power stations for years. Yet now, 1150 new homes are being built at Lake Munmorah on land that the EPA has identified as ‘significantly contaminated’.

 

Mr Blaschke said, “Firstly, homes should not be built here.”

 

“At the very least, they need to carry the strongest possible health warnings. I suggest living here could cause debilitating asthma and other respiratory disease, learning difficulties and even cancer,” he said .

 

“The government is also aware of the health risks associated with burning coal. Its 2021 Inquiry into the ash dams recommended providing publicly accessible information in relation to community health and environmental impacts of coal ash dams and surrounding power stations.

 

“It is flagrant negligence for the NSW Government to allow any new housing developments in the wind shadow of operating coal fired power stations and their ash dams.”

 

Future Sooner has spent years examining peer reviewed scientific literature. The government’s own data revealed there was a clear connection between coal-related air, land and water pollution and above-average occurrences of respiratory diseases including asthmas, cancers and even learning difficulties.

 

So, as Sydney’s drinking water becomes the ignition point for the PFAS tsunami, which is threatening to explode throughout NSW, the next 'Erin Brockovic' thrille rcontinues to play out in the small coastal township of Lake Munmorah and surrounding suburbs. Widespread unexplained illness has been attributed to the ongoing cocktail of air pollution and groundwater contamination leading into Central Coast lake systems.

 

It is to the shame of successive NSW Governments, NSW Health and Planning departments, the EPA and local State and Federal MPs, who have for decades ignored the warnings by doctors about the health issues, facing residents living on the Central Coast and lower Lake Macquarie, from coal fired power stations.

 

But why is there an apparent lack of concern? Why do our politicians continue to pontificate? The evidence is clear and undeniable - there is an immediate and significant impact right here, right now. The adverse impacts of coal-burning power stations on the health of people living on the Central Coast is undeniable.

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