NSW Treasurer and Environment Minister Matt Kean says he is appalled by the Federal Government's lack of progress on cleaning up PFAS contamination in the Williamtown Red Zone.
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"I'm appalled at how those poor residents have been treated," Mr Kean told the Newcastle Herald.
"The Commonwealth has had more than enough time to fix the mess that they created on their land (Williamtown RAAF base).
"It's time to stop kicking the can down the road and take serious action to protect that community and the citizens of the region."
The Department of Defence has invested more than $100million in recent years as part of a project to reduce PFAS contamination on and near the RAAF base. But it was forced to admit in October that the results to date had been limited at best.
But as the saga drags on, residents who are stranded on PFAS contaminated properties are unable to borrow from financial institutions.
They also live with the uncertainty about the health impacts of PFAS pollution.
But Mr Kean defended the role of the NSW Environment Protection Authority and said the Commonwealth's lack of progress demonstrated why a federal EPA was needed.
"There have been calls for a long time for the Federal Government to have a strong environmental cop on the beat. It's long overdue and it needs to be implemented as soon as possible," he said.
"From the NSW Government's perspective, as the Environment Minister, I don't want to see anything that is going to impact on human health or the natural environment. We have a strong environmental cop on the beat here in NSW and it has been working with the residents of Williamtown to address some of these issues. "But let's get to the nub of the matter; this is a Commonwealth problem that they created and they should take responsibility for it."
He acknowledged the problem was far from fixed but would not be drawn on future action.
Australian National University researchers will brief the community this week about the results of a study into the health effects of PFAS.
Defence will also hold a community drop-in session at Singleton on December 7 and Williamtown on December 8.