A Fairfax media investigation found at least 21 children at a US high school have battled cancer through their school years, or shortly after, while growing up in a city whose water supply was contaminated with PFAS. 

The chemicals were present in fire-fighting foams, which were phased out by the CFA in 2007, but a current clean up notice issued by the Environment Protection Authority confirmed “contamination by perfluorooctanoic acid, perfluorooctane sulfonate and metals has been found in land, surface water and groundwater at the premises”.  

Read more: CFA plans expansion at former asbestos site

Plans for a $2.5 million expansion at the Huntly site – developing it into a regional fire investigation facility –  were approved by the City of Greater Bendigo last year.

The CFA spokesperson said the Huntly campus remained a valuable part of its regional training infrastructure.

“CFA is progressing the development of the recently announced fire investigation facility and associated improvements to the Huntly campus,” the spokesperson said. 

Huntly resident Roxanne Joiner said she was unaware of PFAS, or its presence at the Huntly training facility, situated less than one kilometre from her property.

Ms Joiner, who hasn’t had any contact from relevant authorities, uses town water on her rural property and has no plans to use groundwater. 

Fairfax Media has previously revealed 50 cancer cases over a 15-year period on a road near the Williamtown air base, an area that has also been heavily polluted with PFAS chemicals from firefighting foam.

A spokesperson for the EPA said the notice for the training facility in Huntly remained on the site.

The CFA spokesperson said: “In line with clean-up notices, CFA has implemented the required Fire Water Management Plan for the Huntly VEMTC campus and continues to work with the EPA to complete the required civil works on site in line with the approved Environmental Management Plan.”

The spokesperson said water management systems will be installed at all training campuses to treat water captured onsite to potable water and regular monitoring regimes both on and off site to meet EPA requirements will be established.

A Ventia vehicle was sighted on land adjoining the Bendigo Creek, near the intersection of Bendigo-Tennyson Road, Huntly, on Monday. 

The creek is located about 0.5 kilometres south of the CFA training facility. 

According to its website Ventia has established “a dedicated, specialist PFAS team which is actively researching and developing innovative, practical and cost-effective technologies that can be used to remediate PFAS (including PFOS, PFOA, PFHxS) contaminated soil, sediment, concrete and water.”

Ventia was also appointed by the CFA to decommission the toxic Fiskville training campus.

Ventia has been contacted for comment as has the department of justice and regulation.

In 2009, a global agreement was reached to ban one of the chemicals, perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), by listing it on the United Nation’s Stockholm Convention.

In the years since, Australia is one of the only countries that has not ratified the decision. At least 171 countries have agreed to the phase-out, including the UK, Germany and China.

Meanwhile, the federal government is defending multiple class actions from towns across Australia where contamination has occurred. The assistant environment minister Melissa Price has responsibility for the issue and was not available for comment.

The Department of Health maintains there is no consistent evidence the toxins cause “important” health effects, in contrast to the US EPA, which has concluded they are a human health hazard that - at high enough levels - may cause immune dysfunction, reproductive issues and certain types of cancer in humans.

Man-made PFAS chemicals were a lucrative discovery for industry due to their unusual properties: they have been described as “virtually indestructible” in the environment and repel grease, oil and water. They were manufactured by Fortune 500 company 3M for 50 years, with the two best known of the family being PFOS and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA).

PFOS was the key ingredient in 3M’s popular fabric protector Scotchguard, and was used widely in firefighting foams, food packaging and metal plating. The company also manufactured vast quantities of PFOA for sale to Dupont to produce Teflon cookware.

By the time 3M made the surprise announcement it would be voluntarily exiting the PFAS business in 2000, PFOS had contaminated the blood of more than 95 per cent of the human population along with wildlife in remote corners of the globe.

The chemicals still pose a threat in Australia today, mainly because of their use Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF), a fire retardant manufactured by 3M and used by the military, commercial airports, fire brigades and heavy industry for decades. In many cases the run-off was flushed directly into the environment following training exercises.

Half of the Victorian locations where PFAS has been found are CFA sites. In addition to Fiskville, its training grounds at Craigieburn, Bangholme, Fulham, Huntly, Longerenong, Penshurst and Wangaratta have been affected.

Victoria's Environment Protection Authority issued clean-up notices for six of those sites and continues to monitor them. Tests on water supplies have found they are safe to drink.

However, testing of groundwater has shown several nearby bores are contaminated with PFAS. "CFA and EPA are working with landowners to ensure any potential risks are known and managed," the EPA said.

"CFA and the auditor have provided full briefings to neighbours, representatives from the community and key agencies such as local water corporations and the Department of Health and Human Services."

An environmental audit last year found PFAS levels above drinking water guidelines at Murdum Creek, 6.5 kilometres from the CFA site, were likely to be from the training facility.

The auditor said the southern portion of one nearby property should not be used for livestock and crop production, and livestock production should be banned on all of another farm.

Low levels of PFAS were detected at a disused bore near the Wangaratta site.

"CFA is continuing to provide support, information and resources around the impacts to health and the environment PFAS could potentially have on local communities near our ... training centres," a CFA spokesman said in a statement to Fairfax Media.

"Planned works are informed by independent environmental consultants, monitored by the EPA and scoped out in collaboration with government authorities, local councils, community stakeholders, member representatives, and other emergency service organisations.

"CFA has now completed the decommissioning of the former Fiskville Training College and planning for rehabilitation works is well underway to return the site to beneficial use in line with EPA Notices."