Some Hendon residents of Adelaide’s west are facing the same cancer-causing toxic contaminant which is affecting Clovelly Park residents of the south, but new testing has indicated their exposure levels are considered safe.
About 30 residents are being urged to relocate from Clovelly Park because of trichloroethylene (TCE) which once was used by automotive firm Monroe.
Across town at Hendon, residents have been waiting on news of whether pollutants there are putting them at the same risk.
The owners of a local childcare centre at Hendon have now been told the latest test results and say they are passing the news on to parents.
Peter Dolan of the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) says the agency began testing groundwater and soil vapour at Hendon for TCE in 2012.
“We tested in the crawl space and then in the inside of a childcare centre there. We’ve received the results back and there’s nothing to be concerned about,” he said.
The contamination source is believed to have been a nearby industrial site.
At Clovelly Park, testing for TCE presence started in 2008 but it is only the recent detection of TCE vapour inside some houses which has prompted the relocation plan for residents of three streets.
Long exposure heightens cancer risk
Long-term exposure to the chemical can cause cancer but Mr Dolan is offering some reassurance.
“What we can say is there’s a limit around the time but no-one would have been exposed for more than 30 to 35 years,” he said.
As for Hendon, Mr Dolan has promised continuing vigilance.
“Because soil vapour can vary we’ll be probably testing again at a different time of the year to see if there’s seasonal variation,” he said.
“We’re communicating with the parents and the childcare centre about that.”
Opposition frontbencher Stephen Wade is asking why Marion Council was not told promptly by the South Australian Government of the heightened contamination risk at Clovelly Park.
“The Opposition was advised at the briefing yesterday that the LGA (Local Government Association) did request that the local Marion Council be informed [but] that that request was refused,” he said.
The EPA says residents rather than local government would be its first priority with communication.