New South Wales Labor is taking a strong stance against firefighting foams responsible for the contamination at Williamtown, pledging to ban PFAS chemicals if they win the upcoming state election.
If enacted, New South Wales will join South Australia and 171 other countries who have banned the dangerous substance.
Shadow Minister for the Hunter, Kate Washington, says its time to take action, believing the ban will address the current uncertainty about how the chemicals are being used, stored and disposed of.
"There are a number of sites around New South Wales, where communities are impacted by PFAS and in Williamtown, we've been feeling it for over three years...
"The families here are under so much stress and strain and what we don't want to see is other communities around New South Wales similarly affected," she said.
Kate Washington believes the burden cannot lie exclusively with the Turnbull Government.
"As the Minister for the Environment herself said in Parliment, the Federal Government has not acted on this and [Gabrielle Upton] still thinks that they should do something. Well yes, they should do something, but she should have done something a long time ago."
With the direct link to health problems in humans still currently unknown, the Berejiklian Government remains hesitant to ban the chemicals.
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| Image: ABC |
