JANDAKOT residents who were drinking water from bores contaminated by “forever chemicals” have been rocked by new research showing health impacts that can be passed on to future generations.
Jandakot residents in Clements Place were found to be consuming high levels of PFAS after it was detected in their drinking water in 2022, with Jandakot Airport attributing the contamination to historic firefighting foam leaching from the airport’s land into surrounding groundwater.
Residents were told not to drink the water, water their gardens, or top up their pools with it.
Jandakot Airport Holdings has since been supplying residents with fresh water every week.
The company also engaged Environmental Resources Management Australia to investigate the airport contamination site and surrounding residential areas, with a “Human Health and Ecological Risk Assessment” now being conducted.
• Councillor Tarun Dewan has been working with residents in Jandakot, and wants the area rezoned urgently so they can be connected to scheme water. Photo by Isla Tomlinson
The findings are set to be published towards the end of 2026, however Clements Place resident and gardener Faye Arcaro had done her own testing and discovered the PFAS levels in her chicken eggs were “extraordinarily high” and too toxic to consume.
She said the results had a significant personal impact on her and her family.
“It was very gut-wrenching, because I’ve now got seven grandchildren.
“We prided ourselves on growing our own fruit, vegetables, and producing eggs.”
Ms Arcaro said the new fertility data from Adelaide Uni made her question why all her grandchildren were either autistic or suspected to be on the autism spectrum.
Following a recent breast cancer battle, she also fears whether PFAS may have played a role.
“I thought I was a healthy person.
“I garden a lot; we’ve grown a lot of our own food over the 20 years that we’ve been here.
“I topped up the pool with bore water, I swim in the pool, I shower in the water, I cooked with the water, I drank the water.
“Who knows where [the cancer] came from… there have been a couple of people in the street who also have had it.”
Ms Arcaro said she has been trying to get toxicology testing on dead animals found on her four-acre property to see if PFAS was the cause – however she hasn’t yet found any laboratories equipped to test them.
Trying to put the fear behind her, Ms Arcaro is now refocusing on her garden, her role as a grandmother, and protecting and documenting the species on her land.
Dead animals
“I just want to get on with the good stuff, not worrying about the bad stuff.
“I’m going for gold with my garden now. I want it to be the best it can be.”
She still uses the contaminated bore water on the majority of her garden, saving the fresh carted water for her hanging plants and a small vegie patches she tends with her grandchildren.
City of Cockburn councillor Tarun Dewan has worked closely with some residents on the issue, but said the council could only advocate for clean water, not intervene directly.
Cr Dewan said to get WaterCorp to connect scheme water to the residents would mean rezoning the area from rural to residential.
“If I was the premier and if I had the power of making a decision, I would actually consider it very seriously to hasten the process of changing the zoning from rural to residential,” he said.
Rezoning would also allow for the land to be developed for further housing, he said.
“We’re living in Australia; it’s a developed country and I can’t even imagine that we are still not able to resolve a basic amenity like water,” Cr Dewan said.
“It is shameful.”
by ISLA TOMLINSON