Toxic firefighting foam: New water supply for Ōhakea opens

A new Rural Water Scheme has opened at Ōhakea, five years after it was revealed that some drinking water supplies had been contaminated by toxic firefighting foam.

Environment Minister David Parker opened the Ōhakea Rural Water Scheme on Tuesday, ending years of uncertainty for local residents.

Households near Ōhakea airforce base were told in 2017 that their water supply was contaminated by PFAS chemicals found in toxic firefighting foam, which was used at the air strip until 2002.

Read more: The firefighting foam investigation timeline, up to 2018

Test results released in 2018 showed the toxic chemicals were above maximum drinking water guidelines in 14 out of 65 groundwater samples around Ōhakea base, and two samples from near Woodbourne base, near Blenheim.

Ngāti Parawahawaha led a ceremony on Tuesday, blessing the new water treatment plant at Sanson.

It was to provide clean water to about 90 properties, and meant some in the area no longer needed to get their drinking water delivered by truck.

Read more: Toxic firefighting foam – what’s the lather all about?

Long-time local farmer Andy Russell said there was plenty of anxiety and fear, but the new scheme provided reassurance.

“The PFAS remains in the aquifer. It’s intergenerational and it will continue to spread as well, but the water scheme takes that away from people’s health, from land health and the animals’ health, so it’s great.”

Fellow farmer Jim Malone was also pleased.

“[I’m] quite happy with the way it’s worked out. We’ve got good water now. We’ve got to pay for it, but at the end of the day it’s a good solution.”

That cost was $350 a year per connection, in a targeted rate that would be regularly reviewed.

Listen: toxic firefighting foam poses threats to the ecosystem – study

The government put up $10.88 million for the scheme and Manawatū District Council added a contingency fund of about $2m, about half of which had been needed.

David Parker says he was keen for the water scheme to go ahead despite advice from some officials.
Photo: RNZ/ Jimmy Ellingham

Parker said that cost was better for everyone than a possible class action that was at one stage mooted. And that was one reason he had pushed for the scheme against the advice of some officials.

“When the sharks started circling from Australia, trying to get up a class action, I came to the view that that wasn’t in the interest of anyone.

“I didn’t think there would be a legal remedy that would likely be obtained at the end of it.”

PFAS chemicals in the firefighting foam were legal when they were used, and New Zealand had ACC to cover personal injuries that might result.

Parker acknowledged the stress locals felt at learning of the contamination and concerns about the effects on their property prices.

“I thank the maturity shown by the local people who were so adversely affected by this because I think most of the locals… realised that if they caused a melee around these issues it would actually, probably, make some of the problems that they were worried about, like the drop in land values, house values, worse.”

Early on, there was concern about how long the Defence Force and other officials knew of possible contamination before it was made public, and Parker said some aspects could have been better handled initially.

Manawatū District Mayor Helen Worboys said it was expected the new supply would have been ready by Christmas 2021, but Covid-19 restrictions and supply chain headaches caused delays.

However, work was allowed to continue through last year’s lockdown, because it was deemed essential, albeit with restrictions.

Council infrastructure general manager Hamish Waugh said the work was still within its budget.

“The total project came to about $11.9m so, essentially, used all the project budget and about half of the contingency.

“For a project of this size and scale, given the risks involved and the Covid factor, we’re happy with that.”

The new water bore was 650 metres below the ground, and in the future could provide more than six times the 1500 cubic metres that was now being drawn from it.