Case Studies

Jersey Airport. - Foam escaping from fire training ground 2004

There is a well documented case study of how foam used during training was allowed to escape from the Airport training ground onto land surrounding one particular area outside the Airports boundary. This leaching of foam onto land had gone on for sometime before being discovered accidentally.

The degradation product from the foam was PFOS. The contamination of the land and water supply was extensive. So much so that residences in a designated area were supplied with bottled water. There were other concerns for the island, not least the threat that part of the island’s sensitive ecostructure would be contaminated, which could in turn impact on local agriculture and the crops for which the island is famous.

Following the discovery of this contamination, millions of pounds were spent on ensuring this type of escape of foam into the environment from this particular training ground could not happen again. This incident was so serious for the island that it brought about local government condemnation of the airport operator’s failure to maintain proper procedures and structures to contain the foam.

Analysis of the contaminated land will continue for many years.

Negotiations for compensation are still ongoing, and in Jan 2005 the island’s Health and Social Services Committee advised against the proposed settlement, stating:

The Significance for Jersey

PFOS is a persistent organic pollutant. Residues will be found widely across the Island and in the tissues of Islanders. The significance to human health is unclear but current research suggests reason for concern. In addition to the human health issues, there may be reason for wider environmental concern.

These concerns are accentuated in St. Ouen’s Bay where we know that run-off from the old Airport Fire Training Ground has raised levels of PFOS. It seems likely that these raised levels will continue for the foreseeable future.

It is undesirable that water from contaminated boreholes is used for human consumption. The list of commercial and residential properties within the plume of pollution should be updated and where bore-hole water is used for human consumption, properties should be connected to the mains water supply.

Where water is used for other purposes, the potential environmental and health significance of this should be investigated. The need for this exercise, which will need to continue for an unknown number of years, and any further remediation required, follows the use of PFOS at the Fire Training Ground. These future financial implications should have been taken into consideration as part of any financial settlement.

The science of PFOS and related chemicals is in its infancy. It is likely that within, say, 10 years, we will know far more about the health impact of this chemical on human health. Early pointers are that PFOS may have significant effects; it is certainly far too soon to say it is “safe”. This level of uncertainty makes it unwise for the States to assume that PFOS represents no threat to human health or to the environment when the Assembly considers this settlement.