In May, the Hunter JO hosted a Regional Forum on Problem Contaminants as part of the Contaminated Land Program. With more than 30 representatives from across our Member Councils and the wider region in attendance, this forum was a great success!

Those in attendance heard from our guest speakers on the topics of asbestos and PFAS. The first session kicked off with Daniel Adler from Local Government NSW and Naomi Lee from NSW EPA, with interactive presentations on asbestos policy and regulation.

We then heard from Jason Adams from Blue Mountains City Council and Adrian Estreich from Penrith City Council, who took us through relevant case studies from their respective council areas. These included landslides of asbestos containing fill and stakeholder management at a dog park.

The afternoon session was all about PFAS, with Dr Danielle Toáse from Sydney Airport and Maria Moreno from the NSW EPA explaining the history and chemistry of PFAS and what this means when reviewing laboratory analysis and consultants’ reports.

Thank you to all of our speakers and attendees!

If you were unable to attend and wanted to know more, please reach out to Contaminated.Land@hunterjo.com.au.