In a series of important stories in The Sydney Morning Herald, Carrie Fellner has brought attention to the ubiquity of PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” throughout Australia.
PFAS clean-up and site remediation remains a major challenge in Australia, with many of these chemical types found on Defence Australia and other government land.
As well as low-level radioactive waste, Tellus is licenced to accept PFAS, along with a range of other hazardous chemical materials, for disposal at Sandy Ridge in the WA Goldfields.
In Australia, incineration (or related thermal treatment) is a common method of PFAS disposal.
In contrast, in the United States, the birthplace of these ‘forever chemicals’, this destruction method has been paused following regulatory concerns. In 2020, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued guidance cautioning the use of incineration, noting a lack of conclusive evidence that PFAS is destroyed in all cases and that further research is required to reduce uncertainty about the safety of the incineration destruction method.
In response to the US EPA’s guidance, the United States Department of Defense (DoD) in 2022 banned PFAS incineration. This followed a lawsuit claiming the department had been irresponsible in not determining that its incineration methods actually destroyed PFAS material and instead could be potentially spreading pollution to communities adjacent to incineration facilities.
The US DoD has faced a series of class actions relating to PFAS contamination. It’s been a similar situation in Australia, where the Australian Government has paid out more than $360m to communities contaminated by firefighting foam contaminated with PFAS.
Australian hazardous waste expert Geoff Latimer, the primary author of the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water’s ‘Hazardous Waste in Australia’ report series from 2015 to 2021, has written that geological repositories are currently the best waste solution for high-level PFAS solid wastes and contaminated PFAS soil waste. His full report can be found here.
Tellus’ Sandy Ridge facility is Australia’s only nationwide geological repository, licenced to dispose of hazardous chemical and low-level radioactive waste. For added safety, Sandy Ridge is backed by a government assurance framework and is the only facility in Australia that can issue a Tellus Permanent Isolation Certificate™, which reduces customers’ further liability risk for PFAS and AFFF-contaminated material.
If you’re concerned about PFAS contamination in your local community or want to understand more about how Tellus safeguards our green future by permanently isolating hazardous material in one of the safest places on earth.