A MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire councillor’s push to meet with South East Water over PFAS concerns in wastewater – despite there being no current detections of the contaminant – has been rejected.
Cr David Gill raised a motion at the council’s 3 June meeting to initiate formal talks with South East Water about “any long-term public health related issues in our environment” of the synthetic chemicals – perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, “if there’s a need for improvement”. He also sought to “discuss the costs of removing PFAS at the wastewater treatment stage of reducing contaminants in our water cycle”.
“This is an opportunity for us to find out more about chemicals in our water … I’ve been asked to do this from a number of people who are concerned about the treated water,” he said. But he reiterated that it was not in relation to drinking water, but “whether it’s treated to get rid of chemicals that go to the outfall and that is often used for growing vegetables and other things.”
PFAS are present in many household products, including non-stick pans, sunscreen, raincoats and make up. According to a council report, Melbourne Water proactively monitored PFAS in water supply catchments, with a 2024-25 monitoring program having not detected PFAS in water supply catchments.
“The testing protocols can detect PFAS as low as two nanograms per litre, which is below the guideline limit of four nanograms per litre,” the report said. It also noted the federal government manages PFAS and public health impacts through the Environmental Health Standing Committee “and determines the safe amount of PFAS in water through the National Health and Medical Research Council and guidance including the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines”. “This guidance is periodically reviewed, in line with current scientific understanding.”
Councillors discussed the issue, with mayor Cr Anthony Marsh using his casting vote after a 5-5 tie, to defeat the motion. He said he made his decision based on the officer’s report. “We have no legislative role and if there were detections then I think I would have a different view. But given there’s been no detections in constrained resources, I’m not sure that would be the best use of our time,” he said.
Deputy mayor Cr Paul Pingiaro said while he understood Gill’s concerns and that council should be aware of PFAS, he also noted “we are not the regulatory body … the work is being done and those responsible for doing it”.
In 2016, the Department of Defence ordered a “detailed environmental investigation” in and around the HMAS Cerberus base in Crib Point after traces of PFAS were discovered outside the base. As reported by The News last June, The Australian Defence Force said while monitoring at HMAS Cerberus had found “no significant changes to how PFAS is moving in the management area”, remedial works were expected to reduce PFAS from leaving the base (Update on managing ‘forever chemicals’, The News 17/06/24).
First published in the Mornington News – 10 June 2025
