Crisafulli vows to act if Brisbane put at risk by ‘forever chemicals’

In a statement, Seqwater said it had “not offered briefings to the Minister for Water specifically on PFAS detected in its sample testing because the levels recorded since 2018 have met Australian Drinking Water Guidelines”.

Jon Dee, a high-profile environmental campaigner and former Australian of the year for NSW, said the fact national guidelines were not breached did not justify the decision to withhold data from the public.

He has called for an inquiry into the unusually high “forever chemical” levels in Brisbane treatment plants.

“They need to explain how this happened and how they’re going to ensure that it doesn’t happen again,” Dee said.

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“This will rock the public’s trust in its drinking water. To restore that trust, Premier Crisafulli really needs to launch an independent inquiry into how Brisbane came to have such high levels of ‘forever chemicals’ in its drinking water over a two-year period.

“It’s a scandal that this drinking water contamination has been covered up … This has put people’s health at risk.”

Seqwater denied the suggestions.

“Seqwater reports to the Queensland water supply regulator on water quality and complies with all reporting obligations under relevant legislation,” its statement said.

“Seqwater strongly refutes any suggestion that it deliberately withholds information about its water quality testing, which includes testing for PFAS.

“Seqwater does and will continue to meet all ADWG requirements.”

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