Each weekend, mountain bikers zoom through bush nearby.
Fairfax Media can reveal that the training ground at Westleigh is one of 10 sites in Sydney, 25 in NSW and 90 sites across the nation that authorities are investigating for elevated levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals (PFAS).
Fairfax Media has previously revealed 50 cancer cases over a 15 year period near the Williamtown air base, an area that has also been contamined with PFAS chemicals from firefighting foam.
Among them are eight fire brigade training grounds, including Kemps Creek and Westleigh in Sydney.
He did not know about the PFAS.
Long-time resident Warren Burgess, who had followed coverage of the PFAS contamination near Newcastle, said when it came to his neighbourhood, “we’ve had no warning, no news at all.” Four commercial airports in NSW are under scrutiny, including Camden and Bankstown Airports.
But an RFS spokesman said Kemps Creek residents and neighbouring businesses had been notified through door knocks, community meetings, flyers and website information.
Only one area had tested above the PFAS acceptable guidelines while recommendations not to use surface water for drinking, cooking or watering produce were precautionary.
The chemicals were found in surface water beyond the boundary of the site.
Several others living near the base said they had not heard of the contamination.

Bethpage Water District plans to spend about $17 million to shut down three well sites that are drawing from groundwater plumes and drill new water-supply wells outside the boundaries of the area of industrial contamination, which has plagued the system for decades.
The district currently has nine wells at six locations.
“We’re looking for long-term sustainability.” The district has spent roughly $17 million over the decades to build treatment plants to remove volatile organic chemicals and other contaminants that have been traced back to a 600-acre site in Bethpage where the Navy and what is now Northrop Grumman researched, tested and manufactured airplanes and space exploration equipment from the 1930s to 1990s.
The source of the radium has not been established, but the 1,4-dioxane is a compound that has been identified as part of the Navy/Grumman plumes.
“This is our future,” Boufis said.
The plan to move wells out of the plumes is the latest step in a long saga.
“It could change the hydrogeology but it would be something we’d keep our eye on.” Bethpage’s plans make the need to clean up contaminants all the more urgent, said Stan Carey, superintendent of Massapequa Water District.
The study does encompass all the sites that provide drinking water, treat contaminants and monitor water quality, said Martin Brand, DEC’s deputy commissioner for remediation and materials management.
“They’re designed for drinking water.” Bethpage Water District Serves 33,000 people in a 5-square-mile area Six plants, or sites, host nine wells.
The plan: Shut down five wells at three sites within the plume Add another well at an existing site Drill two new wells outside plume boundaries.

Rockford – Federal environmental officials are resuming an investigation into contamination at a former western Michigan tannery five years after the Environmental Protection Agency left the site under state control.
The EPA said new testing will begin this month at the former manufacturing site where Wolverine World Wide used chemicals to waterproof shoe leather.
The EPA has requested Wolverine conduct extensive soil and groundwater sampling across the Rockford property.
Officials have found arsenic, chromium and lead at the property over the years.
Recent testing found extremely high levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS, at the site.
The former tannery was considered for the federal Superfund list of toxic sites.
But the EPA allowed for oversight by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality after community pushback and extensive lobbying.
“I’m looking at what people could actually touch if they dug in the dirt, if they had to do excavation or what may migrate off site,” he said.
Children were observed swimming in the downtown river where “sediment and water contamination has been documented,” said Kimble in a January memo.
Sediment testing in the neighboring river found elevated levels of arsenic, total chromium, hexavalent chromium, copper, lead, mercury and zinc.

The International Alliance "Chrysotile" declares that there are capabilities and technical solutions that can be applied to solve a range of problems related to the safe transportation of water resources.
The use of durable and safe chrysotile-containing pipes makes it possible in a short period of time to create an effective system of water supply and drainage.
A recent example can be found in the amendments to the "Directive on protection of workers against risks associated with exposure to carcinogens and mutagens at work".
According to the new regulations, substances such as chromium VI compounds, wood dust and vinyl chloride, classified by the International Agency for Cancer Research as carcinogens of the first group, are permissible for use at work.
Chromium VI, also mentioned in this document as a recognized mutagen and carcinogen (p. 213), is still a major element of environmental pollution in industrialized areas, and can provoke serious illnesses.
Reference to page 171 of the aforementioned document of the WHO, second edition of "Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality Analysis", includes the – relevant yet ignored – conclusion of a specialized commission which states that chrysotile asbestos pipes are considered absolutely safe for the supply of drinking.
Scientists write that "there is no consistent, convincing evidence that the asbestos consumed (together with food or drinking water) is dangerous for human health" and therefore do not see the need to establish a maximum permissible threshold of asbestos fibers content in drinking water.
Moreover, a highly relevant study was published following the July 1996 meeting of the International Programme on Chemical Safety, as well as additional studies conducted by scientists of the WHO and Specialists of the International Labour Organization.
The International Alliance "Chrysotile" considers it necessary to eliminate double standards in relation to chrysotile asbestos in EU countries and to allow its safe and regulated use.
Such a solution would help effectively solve many of the problems of water supply and create a foundation for the safe and comfortable development of all the countries of the world, preventing the death of people from water scarcity and diseases associated with its pollution.

Dayton has shuttered two Mad River well field drinking water production sites over fears of the potential for contamination from a firefighting foam contaminant that could eventually threaten dozens of additional groundwater wells, a city leader said.
Dayton stopped pumping drinking water at seven groundwater wells at the Huffman Dam well field last April where an early warning groundwater monitoring network showed per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) substances city officials believe were part of a contamination plume migrating from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
The two sources of separate contamination could eventually poise a threat to dozens of city groundwater wells in the Mad River well field, Dayton authorities said.
The Huffman Dam and Tait’s Hill well fields — more than three miles apart — are the “bookends” of the city’s Mad River well field system that counts more than 60 groundwater drinking wells, officials said.
If Dayton detects PFAS contamination over the threshold level of 70 parts per trillion in monitoring well between the fire training site and the operating production wells, it must alert the Ohio EPA and sample the production wells closest to the contamination, Butler added.
Dayton also must determine if the firefighting training site is the source of detected PFAS levels of less than 10 parts per trillion at the Ottawa treatment plant by submitted a work plan by April 30, Butler wrote.
A May 2017 sampling of groundwater monitoring wells at Tait’s Hill found at least one sample registered 1,200 parts per trillion – similar to hot spots found inside Wright-Patterson, Dayton officials said.
The Environmental Protection Agency health advisory threshold for lifetime exposure in drinking water is 70 parts per trillion.
A city-owned early warning system of monitoring wells at Huffman detected at least one sample with 35 parts per trillion of the contaminant, according to the city.
“It warns us in enough time that we can mitigate a problem before it actually reaches the (drinking) production wells.” Dickstein outlined the two sources of contamination in a Feb. 21 letter sent to city managers.

Dayton has shuttered two Mad River well field drinking water production sites over fears of the potential for contamination from a firefighting foam contaminant that could eventually threaten dozens of additional groundwater wells, a city leader said.
Dayton stopped pumping drinking water at seven groundwater wells at the Huffman Dam well field last April where an early warning groundwater monitoring network showed per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) substances city officials believe were part of a contamination plume migrating from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
The two sources of separate contamination could eventually poise a threat to dozens of city groundwater wells in the Mad River well field, Dayton authorities said.
The Huffman Dam and Taits Hill well fields — more than three miles apart — are the “bookends” of the city’s Mad River well field system that counts more than 60 groundwater drinking wells, officials said.
Wright-Patterson, which has worked with city and Ohio EPA authorities over two years on the issue, has said it’s preparing a response.
Dayton reported it discovered polyfluroalkyl substances at less than 10 parts per trillion for the first time in the raw water intake of its Ottawa water treatment facility near the Mad River last November.
A city-owned early warning system of monitoring wells at Huffman detected at least one sample with 35 parts per trillion of the contaminant, according to the city.
“It warns us in enough time that we can mitigate a problem before it actually reaches the (drinking) production wells.” Dickstein outlined the two sources of contamination in a Feb. 21 letter sent to city managers.
Along with the Mad River well field, the others include Miami and Rip Rap Road well fields near the Great Miami River.
The U.S. EPA reported human epidemiology and animal testing studies indicate exposure to the contaminant suggest it may be responsible at certain levels for testicular and liver cancer; changes in cholesterol; low birth weight in newborns; liver tissue damage; and effects on the immune system and thyroid.

Lincoln, Neb.
— A newly redesigned water website from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln offers quick access to information from the university’s water experts.
Water experts plan to add information to the website regularly on agricultural water, manure management, residential water and water resources.
At the conclusion of each month, a water newsletter will be published, delivering the latest articles directly into the email inboxes of its subscribers.
To subscribe to the free newsletter, visit https://water.unl.edu/newsletter.
Residential water experts target issues such as lawns and landscapes, homeowner wastewater treatment, water wells and drinking water, and stormwater management.
The water resources team addresses groundwater, stormwater, surface water quality, and water shed issues, while agricultural professionals focus on irrigation management, animal manure management and the Nebraska Ag Water Management Network.
The team involved in the website redesign included Becky Aiken, Troy Ingram, Leslie Johnson, Rick Koelsch, Katie Pekarek, Meghan Sittler and Nicole Stoner.
To view the site and access the latest water research, visit http://water.unl.edu.
Rick Koelsch Professor Biological Systems Engineering & Animal Science 402-472-3935 rkoelsch1@unl.edu

ASPINWALL (KDKA) — Hundreds of homes are without water in upper Aspinwall following a water main break. Two pipes broke Thursday morning while crews were working on a third, separate pipe at the corner of 8th and Center Streets. Crews repaired two of the lines, but are still working on the final one. The water is expected to be restored…

The Town of Swan River said a company that specializes in wells arrived in the town Wednesday evening, followed shortly afterward by parts needed to make repairs. A state of emergency was declared on the weekend after the town experienced what was described on its website as a “major break in its water pumping a distribution system.” READ MORE: Water emergency…

A Boil Water Advisory remains in place for over two dozen residences in Red Deer’s Sunnybrook neighbourhood. The advisory was issued January 29 but the reason for it is not currently mentioned on the city’s…