Royal Australian Air Force

Senator Brown asked the Minister for Defence, upon notice, on 1 December 2009:

Further to the answer to question on notice no. 2377 (Senate Hansard, 25 November 2009, p. 110P), concerning the contamination of Warrill Creek in Queensland:

1. When will the investigation report, that was due to be submitted to the Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) on 30 November 2009, be publicly released.
2. When was the water first tested by: (a) the department; and (b) DERM.
3. What types of tertiary treatment are employed at the Amberley Sewage Treatment Plant.
4. Why did the department not contribute to the cost of testing local residents for exposure to heavy metals from Warrill Creek when it was discovered that the contamination had occurred.
5. Has the department received advice that exposure to contamination may lead to health effects that are not chronic or acute; if so, who provided the advice.
6. If the contamination of the creek represents a low risk to the public then why is DERM recommending that people limit their contact with the water.
7. (a) What has the department done to publicise the existence of a hotline for concerned residents; and (b) what information are they given when they call.

Senator Faulkner - The answer to the honourable Senator’s question is as follows:

1. The Defence Response to the DERM Environmental Operations Notice was submitted on 30 November 2009. DERM will now review the test results and response findings. It is anticipated that details of the results will be publicly released prior to a community meeting on 17 December 2009.
2.  
   1. Annual water quality monitoring indicated there may be a problem with the pre-treatment of some industrial waste water sources prior to entering the sewerage treatment plant. As part of a follow-up survey, sampling of sediment and surface water occurred across RAAF Amberley and the results were presented to Defence at a risk workshop on 31 August 2009. Defence’s validation sampling and testing of water and sediment in the vicinity of Warrill Creek was undertaken 16-17 September 2009, after consultation with DERM. 
   2. DERM began water testing for this issue on 7 September 2009.
3. The RAAF Base Amberley Sewage Treatment Plant is not a tertiary treatment facility. It is a secondary biological treatment system built in 1956, consisting of an inlet screen, primary settling tanks (Imhoff tanks), biological trickle filters, secondary clarifiers and a chlorine contact tank. A flocculent dosing system was added in 2007 in an effort to improve sedimentation rates in the primary settling tanks.
4. Defence is not aware of any evidence linking the Warrill Creek contamination issue and human health concerns. At no stage has DERM or Queensland Health, the appropriate state regulators for human health issues, advised Defence that either the level of heavy metal contamination identified or the exposure risk in Warrill Creek posed an unacceptable human health risk to local residents.
5. Defence has received no advice from DERM or Queensland Health that the exposure risk of any potential contamination may lead to health effects that are not chronic or acute. 
6. DERM would be best placed to answer this question. Defence believes DERM is adopting a precautionary approach until details of both DERM and Defence’s investigations are finalised, the extent of contamination identified, the risks assessed, and DERM is satisfied with the integrity of Defence’s STP and its output monitoring program.
7.  
   1. RAAF Base Amberley has an established public consultation forum which meets every 3 months, called the Amberley Consultative Working Group. The hotline was advised at this forum on 13 September 2009. An update was given on this issue at the 2 December 2009 meeting. Local Members and Counsellors are invited and attend when available, and the meetings are open to any members of the public.
   2. In line with Defence procedures for any incident response scenario, a hotline was established as a single receiving point, to monitor and record any public queries, and ensure queries are tracked and a consistent message given.    The contact officer was issued with question and answer information consistent with defence media releases and responses. To date, the hotline has received no calls from the general public regarding this issue.

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