By Alesha Capone
A Werribee school has shut its prep and kindergarten areas to conduct extra soil testing, after sample tests from a non-operational area of the campus revealed the presence of PFAS compounds.
Heathdale Christian College issued a media statement about the matter on the weekend.
The statement said, that on Friday around 4.30pm, the college’s executive principal Ross Grace was notified by the school’s environmental consultation group, Edge Consulting, about the results of the soil sample tests.
“The tests were conducted on land located behind our current Prep Precinct and is not accessible by our students,” the statement said.
“These tests indicated the presence of PFAS compounds, which have been more recently found to have potential health implications after long-term exposure and/or ingestion taking place.
“The land tested was previously leased by the Country Fire Authority (CFA) from the college in a combination of long-term and short-term arrangements.”
The size of the area tested covers approximately 1570 square metres.
“As part of the college’s repossession of a section of this leased land, although not required under local building or planning requirements, our college decided it was prudent to undertake additional testing when taking back this land, given the proximity to our student areas,” the statement said.
“The safety of our students and staff is always our highest priority and we are undertaking further environmental soil testing in operational areas of the college.”
To allow for the additional testing, the college closed its prep and kindergarten areas for the week commencing Monday, June 22.
Mr Grace said the subsequent soil testing required the closure of soft fall and grass areas in both the Kindergarten and Prep Precincts.
“As we reviewed this information, it was decided that to have our students attend with these areas closed, would allow very little room for the running, jumping and playing that comes naturally to children,” he said.
“There is no immediate risk to our students and staff, and indeed the health and safety of our community is always our upmost concern, both now and into the future.”
The college is planning to release the additional test results to the school community, once the findings are available.
On Sunday, the school telephoned the families of each kindergarten and Prep pupil, to ensure they had received the notification of the pending closure, and to ensure they had alternate care arrangements in place.
The school has approximately 230 families covering its kindergarten and Prep students.
The school has also notified Wyndham council and the Premier’s office of the initial test results.
