55 - A PFAS Betrayal

<p>PFAS can accumulate and stay in the human body for long periods of time. There is evidence that exposure to PFAS can lead to adverse health outcomes in humans. The most-studied PFAS chemicals are PFOA and PFOS. Studies indicate that PFOA and PFOS can cause reproductive and developmental, liver and kidney, and immunological effects in laboratory animals. Both chemicals have caused tumors in animals.&nbsp;</p> <p>The most consistent findings are increased cholesterol levels among exposed populations, with more limited findings related to: &nbsp;</p> <p>- low infant birth weights,&nbsp;</p> <p>- effects on the immune system,&nbsp;</p> <p>- cancer (for PFOA), and&nbsp;</p> <p>- thyroid hormone disruption (for PFOS). &nbsp;</p> <p>And the State Government of Victoria is moving ahead with its plans to dump it here. &nbsp;</p> <p>"The exercise appears intended, once again, to facilitate or fast-track commercial outcomes and use the state to solve a commercial headache at the expense of displacing the problem onto communities," Mr Lindsay said. "The nature of the regulations themselves suggest lesser and unacceptable standards will be implemented." &nbsp;</p> <p>In a letter to the EPA about the regulations, Moorabool Shire Council chief executive Derek Madden said operators were simply required to submit an environmental management plan, which didn't have to meet any "empirical standards". &nbsp;</p> <p>The regulations were an "enabler that will allow MBC [Maddingley Brown Coal] to take spoil from the West Gate Tunnel", he wrote. "It throws into serious question the balance of the regulatory regime in relation to that spoil." &nbsp;</p> <p>References:&nbsp;</p> <p>https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/west-gate-tunnel-soil-rules-blasted-as-designed-to-fast-track-project-20200708-p55a67.html?fbclid=IwAR3nS9K9H8C5XVfyMga3LnbcoyX6_JDCGpkaLHPE07-HPIlj_QW8UFs1txg&nbsp;</p> <p>https://www.epa.gov/pfas/basic-information-pfas#important&nbsp;</p> <p>https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/is-fiskville-the-tip-of-an-i