The PFAS Contamination Class Action against the Australian Military Who really Pays?

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1 The PFAS Contamination Class Action against the Australian Military Who really Pays? Peter Shannon, Special Counsel, Shine Lawyers

2 QLD OPERATIONAL POLICY

3 Dalby Oakey Brisbane Toowoomba

4 2014 PFAS EMPHASIS

5 BROADER PFAS FAMILY AND GROWING

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8 Army Aviation Centre Oakey

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10 There are no globally accepted peer reviewed studies showing that exposure to PFOS and PFOA affects human health

11 probable link in dupont case (pfoa) Kidney cancer Testicular cancer Ulcerative colitis Thyroid disease Hypercholesterolemia Pregnancy-induced hypertension

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13 Senate Inquiry Recommendations Blood testing Mental health support Voluntarily acquire property Disposal of PFAS Ratification of Stockholm Convention Monitor DoD handling of PFAS clean up Monitor Commonwealth handling of PFAS environmental and health standards

14 100 Year Plume

15 Health Risk Assessment Excerpts HRA Recommendation: avoid or minimise exposure to the contaminants HRA Identified Exposure Pathways: drinking water and cooking with water incidental ingestion and dermal contact exposure through bathing/ showering, household cleaning, laundry, swimming in pools, sprinkler play, irrigation, washing vehicles, washing animals and through fishing, boating, swimming eating home grown poultry eggs, red meat, milk fruit, vegetables grown with or in contaminated water and soil eating local fish and yabbies playing in flooded waterways or groundwater ingestion and dermal contact from dust inhalation exposures or playing in soil

16 Defence on Health

17 US EPA Advice to Australia data from 3M indicated that the (PFAS) chemicals are very persistent in the environment, have a strong tendency to accumulate in human and animal tissues and, based on recent information, could potentially pose a risk to human health and the environment over the long term (2000) Internal Defence Report The chemical can make its way into the human body (via food contaminated when touched by unwashed hands, in drinking water, breathing in foam vapour) it has been implicated with a variety of cancers and toxic health effects in humans that have long term exposure (2003)

18 Queensland Estimates of Volume In July of 2016, Queensland government reported estimates of the amount of foam used over 25 years at the Base. It estimated that over 25 years 1.2 million litres of the concentrate had been used at an approximate rate of 930 litres per week releasing an estimated 6,066 kilograms of PFCs.

19 Civil Liability Negligence Burnie Port Authority v General Jones Pty Ltd (1994) 179 CLR 520 Held the Rylands and Fletcher [1868] UKHL approach of strict liability to escape cases was not good law in Australia. Claims must be framed in negligence. An element of fault is needed.

20 Test for Negligence Donoghue and Stevenson [1932] AC 562 definition of Negligence: an obligation (duty) to take reasonable care to avoid damage to person or property where it is reasonably foreseeable that damage would occur to claimants within reasonable proximity Perre and Ors v Apand Pty Ltd [1999] HCA 36 : The duty to take care will be evaluated in each case and will require consideration of the particular circumstances.

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22 UQ Study