Unley Water Contamination

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (14:25): Further supplementary question: the minister didn't address my second question. Is he aware of any other sites in Adelaide where residents will soon be advised of a groundwater contamination issue?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Climate Change) (14:25): I thank the honourable member for reminding me of the second part of his question. I don't have the answer immediately off the top of my head, but members will well know that work has been underway for some time at several sites in relation to this potential groundwater contaminant. From a brief recollection, I have talked in this place previously about contamination in Glenelg around a former dry-cleaning site, contamination around Edwardstown, obviously, and also at the Holden site, which is an ongoing discussion the government is having with the owner of that land.

It's not unusual. TCE has been used for well over 50 years, probably longer, as a solvent, and particularly as a metal cleaner, wherever there have been these sorts of industrial practices that might have used this solvent, as I noted in the briefing today—even a drapery, for example. It is not unexpected that bad disposal practices would have happened at these facilities. Whether that in fact automatically means that groundwater is contaminated is not always the case.

It depends on the extent and the period of time that this chemical solvent would have been incorrectly disposed of—directly to soil, for example—where there is a deep or shallow aquifer anywhere close to the site of the contamination and whether that contaminated site is close to any residential dwellings or whether it is part of a larger industrial landscape. All of these variables are well known and well debated and they are all up on the EPA website, as far as I understand it. All the sites that have a recording next to them about potential TCE are available on the EPA website. The honourable member can have a look at that for himself or ask his staff to do so.