Members of the investigation team will be available to discuss the findings of the environmental investigation and answer questions about the PFAS Management Area Plan.

At a meeting in February this year which was the fifth such gathering to keep the community informed about the ongoing PFAs development at the Nowra Hill base, defence said it was developing a PFAS Management Areas Plan (PMAP) for the area, to outline activities the organisation will undertake to manage and reduce the risks of PFAS exposure at the base and nearby areas.

The latest session will be held between 4pm and 7pm at the Fleet Air Arm Museum, 489A Albatross Road, Nowra, with a presentation at 5.30pm.

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PFAS - per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances - are a group of chemicals that include perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS), which were widely used in firefighting foams at a number of locations, including defence facilities such as Albatross and the Jervis Bay Range, which also takes in HMAS Creswell, until being phased out in 2004-05.

The detailed environmental investigation into PFAS on, and in the vicinity of Albatross has been completed.

Preliminary site investigations (PSI) into the contamination around the Naval Air Station was completed in September 2016.

In November 2017, the Detailed Site Investigation (DSI) and Human Health and Ecological Risk Assessment (HHERA) reports were presented to the local community.

The DSI involved sampling soil, sediment, surface and ground water to collect information and better understand how PFAS moves through the environment.

The HHERA provides a better understanding of the potential for PFAS exposure to people, plants and animals within the investigation area.

An addendum to this report was published in June 2018 to include some further risks not fully assessed in the HHERA Report.

At that meeting Defence said it was working on ways to stop toxic PFAS chemicals, from migrating off the base.

Light refreshments will be provided at the July 17 session and all are welcome.

For more information visit the project website http://www.defence.gov.au/environment/pfas/Albatross/