One of that family – called PFOS – was an ingredient of firefighting foam that was sprayed at the Airport in the 80s and early 90s, until it was found to be toxic.
Many residents living around the aerodrome, particularly those in St Ouen’s Bay, believe that the chemical is responsible for causing high levels of kidney, gallbladder, thyroid and other health problems, including cancers, among humans and animals who have ingested water contaminated with PFAS.
Pictured: A large area of St. Ouen’s Bay is contaminated with a manmade chemical that was sprayed at the Airport in the early 90s.
Tests have found high-levels of the chemical in the bay, so much so that Jersey Water is unable to access boreholes there and around Pont Marquet in St Brelade that feed into its reservoirs.
To address the concerns of residents, Jersey Water has recently completed a £380,000 extension of its water mains network in St Peter, laying 1,442m of piping to connect the 45 properties, which were previously on boreholes.
Paul Batho, Network Manager of Jersey Water said: “I am immensely proud of our people who surpassed themselves in showing what true team-spirit, hard work and a positive customer-focused ethic can achieve.
“As a company, we aim to ensure all of our customers experience a high standard of service and the successful completion of this project is testament to that.”