PFAS contamination within water catchments

​​Request 711198813

PFAS contamination within water catchments adjacent to Jersey Airport – stemming from the historical use of firefighting foams containing the so-called “forever chemicals” and the hydrological studies commissioned by the States 

1. Numbers & Categories of Affected Properties

1.1. Total Properties Identified

• How many distinct properties (private borehole users, agricultural abstractions, livestock-water users, businesses, and other non-mains supply users) were identified as within the updated PFAS plume area as of 1 May 2025?

1.2. Breakdown by Category

• Of that total, please give the number in each of these categories:

• Licensed private boreholes

• Unlicensed or domestic abstractions

• Agricultural users (irrigation, stock)

• Commercial/industrial users

• Vulnerable premises (e.g. care homes, schools)

2. Geographic Distribution (Anonymized)

2.1. Grid-Reference Mapping

• Please provide a map (e.g. OS grid 100 m or 500 m squares) showing the count of affected properties per square—no individual addresses or names.

2.2. Parish or Sector Totals

• Alternatively, supply the counts of impacted properties by parish or by water-catchment sub-zone.

3. Notification & Offer Logistics (Anonymized Templates)

3.1. Contact Template

• Please supply the template (letter, email, phone script) used to notify affected users and offer mains-water connections—redacted of any personal details.

3.2. Numbers Contacted

• How many of those identified properties have been contacted as of today? How many have accepted the mains-connection offer?

4. Legal Basis for Notification & Supply

4.1. Statutory Duties

• Under which exact statutory provisions (Water Pollution (Jersey) Law 2000, Water Supply (Jersey) Law, Public Health (Jersey) Law, etc.) is the Government required to:

• Notify affected non-mains users of pollution risk?

• Offer or require connection to the public water supply when a private abstraction is found unsafe?

• Please cite law name, section, and subsection only.

Response

1.1

As of the 1st May, a total of 343 residential and commercial properties were identified within the updated plume area identified in The Arcadis Hydrogeological Study and Risk Assessment Report (May 2025), and further work was required to establish which of these properties were on private water supplies; the results will be published online within 12 weeks of this request, therefore Article 36 (Future Publication) of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 applies.

1.2

The breakdown by category was not held by the Scheduled Public Authority (SPA), therefore, Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 applies.

2.1

A Map showing the count of affected properties per square is not held by the SPA, therefore, Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 applies.

2.2

The Scheduled Public Authority SPA did not hold the counts of impacted properties, therefore, Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 applies, however, work is progressing to identify properties in the updated Plume area. 

3.1

The SPA used 2 letter templates to try to contact members of the public, these can be found below.

Letter to residents.pdf

Chase letter to residents.pdf​

3.2

No contact to the identified properties had been made, however, work is progressing to identify properties in the update Plume area. 

4.1.1

The SPA does not believe there is any specific statutory provision requiring the Government of Jersey to notify affected non-mains users of pollution risk, however, the SPA’s approach would reflect Recommendation 16 of the “PFAS and water quality in Jersey 2020” update report from the Government of Jersey Officer Technical Group. 

That report recommended a need to Improve awareness of the need to register boreholes and ensure that those with private water supplies are aware of the possibility of pollution from a variety of sources, and the importance of regular testing and management of their source

4.1.2

The SPA does not believe there is any specific statutory provision requiring the Government of Jersey to offer or require that a connection is made to the public water supply when a private abstraction is found to be unsafe. 

Article 7(2) of the  Water (Jersey) Law 1972 provides that Jersey Water is, subject to the provisos of such Article,  obligated to connect any premises to a provide a supply of water sufficient for the domestic purposes of such premises within a reasonable time of a relevant request for the same being made to them,  albeit as a condition for compliance with any such request under Article 7(4)(b) Jersey Water has the right to be paid for such works.

Article Applied

Article 3 Meaning of “information held by a public authority”

For the purposes of this Law, information is held by a public authority if –

(a)     it is held by the authority, otherwise than on behalf of another person; or

(b)     it is held by another person on behalf of the authority.

Article 36 - Information intended for future publication

(1) Information is qualified exempt information if, at the time when the request for the

information is made, the information is being held by a public authority with a view to its

being published within 12 weeks of the date of the request.

(2) A scheduled public authority that refuses an application for information on this ground

must make reasonable efforts to inform the applicant –

(a) of the date when the information will be published;

(b) of the manner in which it will be published; and

(c) by whom it will be published.

(3) In this Article, “published” means published –

(a) by a public authority; or

(b) by any other person.

Public Interest Test 

Article 36 is a qualified exemption, which means that a public interest test has to be undertaken to examine the circumstances of the case and decide whether, on balance, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information. 

Public interest considerations favouring disclosure

· disclosure of the information would support transparency and promote accountability to the general public. 

Public interest considerations favouring withholding the information

· It is intended to publish registration data within 12 weeks of the receipt of this request on www.opendata.gov.je. The information is currently being collated prior to publication and therefore it is not possible to release it at this stage. 

On balance, the public interest favours withholding the information at this time, particularly as it is scheduled to for publication within 12 weeks. Whie there is a public interest in transparency and timely access to information, this interest is already being met through the planed publication, which will ensure equal and fair access to the data for all.