Narrabri Shire to proceed with procurement process for temporary water treatment plant

Narrabri Shire Council will proceed with a procurement process for a temporary water treatment plant to address the issue of PFAS in the Narrabri town supply.

Councillors were briefed with an update on the water issue at the September meeting and endorsed the recommendation put forward.

The council’s director of infrastructure, Warren Faulkner, sought the elected members’ approval to go to an expression of interest process for a temporary plant to treat 55–60 litres of water per second.

This would enable the Killarney bore to come back online as soon as possible.

The council has been investigating additional options after it was reported that a temporary treatment plant for the town water supply would exceed the $4m in funding provided by the state government.

Cr Ryan Whillas queried the new option, which was lower than another proposal that would see 75 litres of water treated per second.

Mr Faulkner explained that the council’s intention was to bring the project’s scope within the funding range.

“We do have a proposal that’s got 55 litres per second under a hire-to-buy type of arrangement,” he said.

“The intention is to bring it within that $4m.”

Mayor Darrell Tiemens queried whether the council had considered being part of a class action case against 3M, being undertaken by the federal government, and seeking $2bn in damages.

General manager Eloise Chaplain took Cr Tiemens’s query on notice, however did indicate that the council had been in discussion with two separate class actions.

The 3M class action mentioned by Cr Tiemens is the largest legal claim ever brought by the federal government and seeks damages for the extensive impact of toxic PFAS firefighting foam.

“We didn’t mess it up. We shouldn’t have to clean it up,” Cr Tiemens said of the PFAS contamination.

“It shouldn’t be a cost that is borne … not one cent should be borne by the ratepayers of Narrabri Shire Council.

“We’ve said that over and over again. I think we just need to be relentless with this one.”

Earlier in the discussion, Mr Faulkner also said the council had received approval to add the Saleyards Lane bore to the town’s water access licence.

“That doesn’t automatically mean that we can connect that into the water supply,” he said.

“We’re now talking with NSW Health because there are some water quality concerns … in terms of what treatment, if any, may be required.”

Mr Faulkner said investigations into a bore at Logan’s Lane had revealed that it would be on council property and not on a Local Land Services title as first thought.

“We’re now reengaging a consultant to undertake 72-hour pump testing to actually confirm the flow rates … that the quantity of water is suitable … and we’re collecting a number of water samples to make sure the water quality is better than Saleyards as well,” he said.