The Devastating Impact of PFAS Contamination on Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community

Toxic firefighting foam devastates an ancient Aboriginal culture in Australia

• Wreck Bay, a village on Jervis Bay’s southern peninsula, has been home to Aboriginal people for at least 20,000 years.

• Jervis Bay is a tourist mecca, attracting more than 1.4 million visitors a year, due to its beauty and the claim that it harbours “the whitest sand on earth”.

• Defence contractors at the nearby Naval base have revealed that firefighting foams used since the 1970s have leached toxic per- and poly-fluoroalkyl (PFAS) chemicals – better known as “forever chemicals” – into Wreck Bay.

• The PFAS chemicals have contaminated the waterways that once provided food and pristine drinking water, the plants used in bush medicine, and even the clay once used in ceremonial practices and to nourish women during pregnancy.

• A claim against the Defence Department over cultural loss has reached a critical point for negotiations this week ahead of a trial slated to start next week.

• Firefighting foam has wreaked devastation for thousands of residents across Australia, but nowhere has it landed a crueller blow than at Wreck Bay, where the sacred spiritual connection to the land and waters has underpinned the community for millennia.

• Mary Creek, which runs through Wreck Bay, is probably the highest contaminated spot in the national park and contains such hazardous levels of chemicals that it has been completely closed to human use.

• When Defence tested for PFAS in recent years it discovered the two most toxic of the chemicals in the creek at 6.6 micrograms a litre.

• Mary Creek was a nursery for Wreck Bay’s infants to play in and learn to swim, before they were old enough to venture into the surf.

• The impact of the contamination has led to a claim against the Defence Department over cultural loss that has reached a critical point for negotiations this week ahead of a trial slated to start next week.

• The chemicals that turned 3M into one of the most profitable companies on Wall Street have dealt a devastating blow to an ancient culture in one of the most secluded parts of the world.

• The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and a documentary film crew have spent two years chronicling the impact of the PFAS contamination on the Wreck Bay community.PFAS contamination devastates Indigenous community in Australia

• The Wreck Bay Aboriginal community in Australia has been devastated by contamination from PFAS chemicals, which were used in firefighting foam at a nearby naval base.

• The community has been advised not to eat seafood from contaminated creeks and to limit their consumption of seafood from nearby areas.

• Fishing has been a bedrock of the community, but the shoreline has fallen quiet due to contamination fears.

• PFAS contamination has also impacted the community’s cultural practices, including the teaching of culture to future generations.

• PFAS contamination has been linked to health issues, including brain tumours and heart problems, in the community.

• Research has shown that the community has suffered cultural loss due to PFAS contamination.

• A new water source, Lake Windermere, has also been found to contain traces of PFAS chemicals.

• Authorities have denied that the decision to decommission the water supply from Lake Windermere and provide drinking water from an alternative source is due to contamination.

• The Department of Infrastructure has stated that the health and safety of residents and their confidence in the water supply is the Australian government’s first priority.

• The number of naval officers residing on the nearby base has halved between 2016 and 2021, according to census data.

• 3M, the primary manufacturer of PFAS chemicals, has announced it will exit PFAS manufacturing and discontinue the use of PFAS across its product portfolio by the end of 2025.

• Despite compensation from the Commonwealth, community members believe that their losses cannot be atoned for and that the contamination has ruined everything.