Perth Airport commences legal action on PFAS contamination

The contamination is the result of the historic use of PFAS chemicals in firefighting foam used by the Aviation Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF), which is a division of Airservices Australia.

PFAS - Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances - are chemicals that are, or have been, used in a wide variety of applications such as textiles and leather products, cookware, food packaging, floor polishes and in some types of fire-fighting foams.

The known use by ARFF of PFAS-based firefighting foam has since been phased out at Perth Airport.

PFAS chemicals have been used in numerous industries and applications and have been detected widely across Australia. The presence of PFAS is not unique to Perth or Perth Airport.

The current Commonwealth health advice notes that “currently there is limited evidence that exposure to PFAS causes adverse human health effects.”

Perth Airport has over a number of years been seeking action from the Airservices Australia to remediate or remove the contamination.

In doing so, Perth Airport has engaged openly and transparently with both Commonwealth and State regulators in the development of a PFAS Management Plan for the airport estate.

Perth Airport has also funded a whole-of-estate PFAS detailed site investigation along with a number of PFAS remediation projects including the installation of treatment plants in airport drains to ensure that PFAS levels in water leaving the airport estate are within recommended PFAS tolerances.