MINISTERS have stopped short of committing to immediate action on land, groundwater and private water supplies contaminated with toxic “forever chemicals”.
The government accepted the latest set of recommendations from the independent PFAS Scientific Advisory Panel’s recommendations “in principle”, acknowledging the “seriousness of this issue and the need for continued action”.
But many of the scientific recommendations outlined in the draft report were accepted, the government has deferred firm decisions on several areas – including contaminated soils, biosolids spread on land, surface and groundwater, and privately owned boreholes.
Instead of introducing firm thresholds requiring clean-up, ministers said recommended PFAS levels in soils and water would act as “triggers for further investigation rather than as definitive thresholds requiring immediate action”.
This means that sites found to contain PFAS above suggested levels would not automatically require remediation. Further assessment would first be needed — with decisions shaped by “policy, regulatory and resource considerations”.
Soil washing — a suggested method for removing PFAS from contaminated land — has “been explored locally in the past but has rarely been successfully implemented largely due to practical constraints relating to scale, infrastructure, cost, and the management and disposal of waste arising from the process”.
The government recognises that soil washing “may continue to develop internationally”, so it is “not ruled out as a potential option in the future should circumstances, technology or the supporting evidence change”.
Similarly, the disposal of PFAS-contaminated treatment residues remains unresolved. While the panel recommended the use of incineration as the best disposal technology for PFAS treatment residues, the government response noted that Jersey has “limited access to appropriate scale incineration technology”.
On private water supplies, the government confirmed that while advice and guidance will be strengthened, “the management and treatment of private water supplies rests with the property owner”. Ministers said they “broadly accept” the panel’s proposed triggers for intervention in relation to private supplies, but added that the “detailed practicalities will require further consideration”.
The response stressed that the recommendations remain draft and that this “does not represent a final government position”.
The only area where ministers have committed to firm legal change is mains drinking water. Environment Minister Steve Luce recently proposed a change to the law to make it illegal for drinking water supplies to exceed four nanograms per litre – a third of current levels – within five years.
“This legislative change represents a significant and tangible outcome arising from the Panel’s work,” the governement response said.
“It will place Jersey’s approach to PFAS regulation on a clear statutory footing, strengthen regulatory oversight of water supplied by Jersey Water, and provide long-term assurance for Islanders in relation to the quality of mains drinking water.”
