St Thomas Aquinas Primary School - West Belconnen
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25 Lhotsky Street
Charnwood ACT 2615
Subscribe: https://stthomasbelconnen.schoolzineplus.com/subscribe

Email: office.staquinas@cg.catholic.edu.au
Phone: (02) 6258 4077
Fax: 02 6258 5834

PFAS Update from ACT Health - 21 January 2021

Dear Families,

I am writing to update you on the situation with the PFAS contamination of our school grounds.  Most of you are aware by now that The Canberra Times published an article on the 3rd January 2021, questioning the current safety measures the school currently has in place to ensure the safety of staff, students and families on site. Following this article, Chief Health Officer of ACT Health has reviewed the evidence and is satisfied, that the measures the school has in place, are sufficient given the relatively low level of contamination on our site.  I have included below a letter sent from Dr Kerryn Coleman, Chief Health Officer,  ACT Heath, restating the relative risk of the contamination to people on site.

PFAS - ACT Health - Response to The Canberra Times Article

You may also be pleased to know that I met with Mr Paul Barnett of Paul Barnett Design Group, again over the break, and we are moving forward with plans to upgrade our outdoor spaces, including fully remediating the contaminated area on the school oval.  Our plan is to create a facility which will withstand the pressure of over 300 children running around on it for 40 weeks of the year.  I will provide an update with plans, and a likely timeline, early in the school year.

Thank you again for you support and I look forward to seeing you in a little over a week.

Warm regards

Leah Taylor
Principal