A DEDICATED review panel to consider the ongoing impact of PFAS in Jersey should be set up following June’s election, according to figures in the political Scrutiny process.
In its legacy report issued to mark the end of the current political term and flag topics that will require further examination once the new government is set up in June, the Scrutiny Liaison Committee said that anxiety reported by Islanders’ anxiety over PFAS had highlighted the “significance and complexity” of the subject.
“Due to competing priorities, scrutiny was unable to examine this issue in the depth required,” the report stated. “The next committee may therefore wish to establish a dedicated review panel on PFAS to ensure focused and thorough examination.”
The committee, headed up by Public Accounts Committee chair Deputy Inna Gardiner, is made up of the chairs of the five Scrutiny panels and the chair of the Public Accounts Committee.
PFAS is a family of manmade carbon-based chemicals added to everyday items such as frying pans and outdoor clothing because of their ability to repel water, oil and heat.
However, it has been found that exposure to PFAS may be harmful to human health, linked to such conditions as kidney cancer, high cholesterol and a reduced ability to fight infections.
The “hotspot” of high contamination around the Airport, and beneath it in St Ouen’s Bay, was caused by firefighting foam sprayed at the Airport’s fire training ground over several decades.
Deputy Hilary Jeune, chair of the Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Scrutiny Panel, said: “‘PFAS was a topic that we raised within our quarterly public hearings and culminated in a stand-alone hearing of its own – there is much more work to be done on this and we remain concerned about how to deal with the problem and at what cost.
“Due to the significance of these concerns, the panel found that the draft Water Law regulations were lodged without a fully informed understanding of its impacts and feasibility and so the panel decided to call in that legislation so that the next panel can undertake thorough scrutiny of the proposals.”
The Scrutiny Liaison Committee has also highlighted the recent experience of a large number of ministerial orders being issued in the run-up to the start of the election period on 20 April.
The legacy report stated: “The next committee may also wish to consider whether clearer expectations are needed around the timing of ministerial orders at the end of an Assembly term,” the report stated. “Introducing a cut-off point, except in cases of genuine urgency, would help ensure that there is adequate time for scrutiny and for any rescindment process to be properly considered.”
