Government of Jersey investigations into PFAS contamination

​​Request 711207756

The States investigations surrounding the contamination of Pfas chemicals in areas of Jersey.

Hydrological studies by Arcadis 

Contract Variations & Time Extensions

1. Contract Amendments

• Please provide any contract variation orders or change notices with Arcadis Consulting (UK) Ltd that amended the original Phase 2 completion date of 31 December 2023.

• For each variation, state the date issued, rationale, and new agreed completion date.

2. Officer Technical Group Updates

• Please supply the agenda, presentations, and minutes of the “Mid Project Update” to the Officer Technical Group originally scheduled for 31 December 2022.

• If that update did not occur, explain why and provide any revised update schedule.

3. Project Management Emails

• Please provide internal emails or memos sent between 1 October 2022 and 31 December 2023 that discuss delays, scope changes, or rescheduling of Phase 2 deliverables.

​Bundle B: Justifications & Impact Assessments

4. Scope Change Rationale

• Please supply the scope change requests or internal briefings that justify why conceptual model, risk assessment, or remediation recommendations were not ready by 31 December 2023.

5. Impact on Public Health & Environment

• Provide any risk assessments or impact statements prepared in late 2023/early 2024 assessing the risk of delaying publication past the planned completion date.

6. Budget & Resourcing

• Please outline any budget re-allocations, staffing changes, or procurement delays that affected the Phase 2 timeline between June 2023 and March 2025.

Response

1. 

The SPA has 1 contract variation/ extension that included an amendment to the Phase 2 completion date which can be found below.
PFAS Arcadis contract extension 2024 DR_Redacted .pdf

Personal information within the documents has been redacted in accordance with Article 25 (Personal Information) of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011.

Information has also been withheld under Article 33(b) (Commercial Interests) of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 as it is considered commercially sensitive. 

Article 33 is a qualified exemption; therefore, a public interest test has been applied and is shown at the end of this response 

2. 

The “Mid Project Update” to the Officer Technical Group originally scheduled for 31 December 2022, did not occur. Investigation as to why and to provide any revised update schedule as requested, stopped when the 12.5 hours was reached, therefore, Article 16 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has been applied, and this part of your request will not be processed further.

3. 

Various searches were conducted for the Project Management Emails on the email back up system (Cryoserver), which holds copies of all emails sent and received by Government of Jersey staff.

The accounts of Regulation and Natural Environment staff involved with this project were searched using the keywords "PFAS ", "Phase 2" and " Hydrogeological survey".

Over 4,000 search results were obtained and it has been estimated that it would take in excess of 12.5 working hours to extract the data.  Article 16 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has therefore been applied.

However, information regarding delays and scope changes are included within Internal Project Management, which can be found below.

Jersey Budget Proposal 2024 FINAL DR_Redacted.pdf​

4. 

The spreadsheet attached provides only partial information regarding scope change requests, investigation and searches stopped when 12.5 hours was reached, therefore, Article 16 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has been applied, and this part of your request will not be processed further.  

5. 

The Freedom of Information response has already exceeded 12.5 working hours, therefore, Article 16 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has been applied, and this part of your request will not be processed further.  

6. 

The spreadsheet attached below provides only partial information regarding budget re-allocations and staffing changes, however, any further investigation stopped when 12.5 hours was reached, therefore, Article 16 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has been applied, and this part of your request will not be processed further.

20250523_PRO28256PFAS_MonthlyReportsCommentQ3,4and6ToDisclose.pdf

Articles 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 16 - A scheduled public authority may refuse to supply information if cost excessive

(1) A scheduled public authority that has been requested to supply information may refuse to supply the information if it estimates that the cost of doing so would exceed an amount determined in the manner prescribed by Regulations. 

Article 25 - Personal information

(1) Information is absolutely exempt information if it constitutes personal data of which the applicant is the data subject as defined in the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018.

(2) Information is absolutely exempt information if –

(a) it constitutes personal data of which the applicant is not the data subject as defined in the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018; and

(b) its supply to a member of the public would contravene any of the data protection principles, as defined in that Law.

Article 33 - Commercial interests

Information is qualified exempt information if –

(a) it constitutes a trade secret; or

(b) its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of a person (including the scheduled public authority holding the information).

Public interest test

In applying this article, the following considerations were taken into account. 

Public interest considerations favouring disclosure  

• Disclosure of the information would ensure members of the public are informed about transaction fees and percentage rates.

• Disclosure to the public would align with open Government of Jersey principles, enhancing trust and transparency.

Public interest considerations favouring withholding the information   

• The release of the transaction fees and percentage rates (‘fees’) could potentially disadvantage Arcadis and the Scheduled Public Authority's ability to retain commercial advantage in any future process.  

• This could also result in the Government of Jersey’s inability to secure best value for the taxpayer and this will likely prejudice the Government as its bargaining power decreases.

It is in the public interest to be made aware of any fees being charged by Arcadis in relation to online transactions.  However, it is considered that the likely prejudices to Arcadis, the Government and the taxpayer should this information be released outweigh the argument that the release is in the public interest.

The SPA has concluded that, on balance, the risk of causing significant mental health and or concerns or spreading misinformation, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the benefits disclosing the information.​