Guernsey: Review into PFOS case will look at decisions made

Guernsey’s states have released the details of a review into the Public Services Department, after a court battle lost them £8 million. A long-running claim against 3M – a company that produces a fire-fighting foam used at Guernsey and Alderney airports – ended in favour of the company, with the States having to foot the […]

Guernsey spends £8m on 3M court battle over fire-fighting foam

Guernsey States have spent £8m on a court battle with a company that produces a fire-fighting foam used at Guernsey and Alderney airports. The long-running claim against 3M ended in the High Court in the UK this week, with an early settlement. Under the terms they have to pay £1.4m for the legal costs of […]

Guernsey PFOS contaminated soil ‘needs solution’

Contaminated soil buried near Guernsey Airport will have to be moved within 20 years, the director of Environmental Health in the island has said. Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) was previously used by the airport fire service. It got into soil at the airport in 2002 when a fire truck overturned. In 2012 the soil was […]

Guernsey States to clear contaminated soil

Work to remove soil in a field off Forest Road, Guernsey, that was contaminated by a firefighting chemical will start in the next few months. Public Services says traces of Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) were found in ground water at the site. Officials say they want the chemical gone to protect water supplies. The contamination […]

Guernsey: Anglers at St Saviour’s reservoir warned over eating fish

Anglers in Guernsey have been asked to limit the number of fish they eat from St Saviour’s reservoir, after a chemical was detected in the water. Environmental Health said the chemical was known as PFOS, and was a component of fire-fighting foam. It stressed that while anglers were unlikely to be eating enough fish to […]

Guernsey: Water treatment plant to remove flame retardant planned at airport

Almost a decade after an airport accident which contaminated Guernsey’s water supply, the Public Services Department wants to permanently solve the problem. As part of the airport runway redevelopment, they are planning to put in a plant to treat any affected water. It will mean Guernsey Water no longer has to constantly check the reservoir […]

PFOS in Guernsey: Airport fire foam pollution has reached the reservoir

A STREAM that runs from the airport to St Saviour’s Reservoir has been contaminated by a dangerous chemical, it has emerged. Private wells and boreholes in the surrounding area were also polluted by perfluorooctane sulphonate – PFOS – after three incidents at the airport in which poisonous foam concentrate was spilled and soaked into the […]