#Australia - #KatherineNT residents say potential damages from #PFAS firefighting foam case should pay for further 'recompense'

by James Elton, 1 June, 2026

Excerpt: "PFASContamination in Katherine was first announced by Defence in 2016 — the result of decades of use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam at #Tindal, which sits above a large and interconnected #aquifer.

"In the immediate aftermath, Katherine's town pool was closed and Defence trucked in bottled water.

"Commonwealth to sue the manufacturer of a firefighting foam containing PFAS chemicals that contaminated 28 #DefenceForce bases across Australia.

"A class action, settled in 2020, resulted in Defence paying $92.5 million to Katherine home owners and businesses to compensate for lost property value, as part of a broader class action that also included Williamtown in NSW and Oakey in Queensland.

"Today, Katherine's town drinking water supply is thoroughly treated using a specialised plant to keep PFAS levels below minimum thresholds.

"But residents with bores in the contamination zone are still advised not to drink their groundwater or eat eggs from chickens that drink water from the bores.

"A 2018 health assessment commissioned by Defence also found there was an 'elevated risk' for anyone who ate fish caught in the #KatherineRiver on a regular basis, defined as one fish per week.

"A Senate inquiry into the issue last year heard evidence that assessment had affected #Aboriginal people in the region, who had historically eaten large quantities and varieties of fish and crustaceans from the river."

Read more:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-02/pfas-katherine-residents-welcome-federal-government-legal-action/106735104

#3MKnew #ForeverChemicals #PFAS #FirefightingFoam #FirstNations #KatherineNT #IndigenousAustralians #NorthernTerritory #WilliamtownNSW #OakeyQueensland #WaterIsLife #AusPol #TraditionalDiets #TraditionalFoodSources

#Algal #Toxins emerge as a new concern in #Alaska’s Northern Bering Sea

Locals who depend on the sea for food and culture are trying to understand the risks to traditional foods and wildlife populations in a region undergoing myriad changes

by Yereth Rosen, Alaska Beacon, May 31, 2026 via #ICTNews

Excerpt: "For countless generations, people of the #BeringStrait region have relied on the food they harvest from the sea without worrying about #HarmfulAlgalBlooms [#HABs] that threaten seafood eaters in warmer and more southern latitudes.

"Now, as the Northern Bering Sea undergoes cascading effects of a warming climate, algal risks pose a new challenge.

"The change has been dramatic.

"And it has prompted a change in the way #Nome youth grow up learning about collecting food from the waters around their home. In early April, Nome high school students traveled to Bethel with their science teacher, where they presented their research at the Western Alaska Interdisciplinary Science Conference held by Alaska Sea Grant.

"Algal toxins were present, at very low but detectable levels, in fish they eat.

"Sophomore Audrey Bruner-Alvanna was among the group of student researchers. She said young people are concerned about algal blooms, which proliferate in warmer conditions, and their potential effects on wild food resources.

" 'Because, you know, as the climate changes, as the world gets warmer and stuff, there’s going to be more of these toxins and stuff during summer,' she said. 'I feel like a lot of people that I’ve talked to have been wondering about how our subsistence is going to change in the future based on all of that.'

"The student research came about after one of the nation’s densest and biggest concentrations of toxin-producing Alexandrium algae ever documented burst forth in the waters of the Bering Strait region in 2022.

"Until the appearance of the 'massive bloom, the most toxic bloom, the longest-persisting bloom in the U.S.,' local people barely knew what harmful algal blooms or #Alexandrium are, said Emma Pate, president of the Nome Eskimo Community, the local tribal government.

" 'So we had to figure things out and learn really fast,' Pate said during an October 'Strait Science' presentation hosted by the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Nome campus."

Read more:
https://ictnews.org/news/algal-toxins-emerge-as-a-new-concern-in-alaskas-northern-bering-sea/

#ClimateChange #ToxicAlgae #UniversityOfAlaska #TraditionalFoodSources #NativeAlaskans #WarmingOceans #AlexandriumAlgae

#VoicesFromTheBarrens: Film & Discussion

Panel Discussion (via Zoom): Tuesday, October 7, at 6:00 PM (pre-registration required)

"Join us for an online screening of the documentary Voices From the Barrens followed by and a panel discussion with REACH #Wabanaki Wellness Coordinator, #BrianAltvater, filmmaker #NancyGhertner and other guests. The film will be available beginning Thursday, September 25, 2025 till the evening of the panel discussion on Tuesday, October 7, 2025, at 6:00 PM.

"Voices from the Barrens, #NativePeople, #Blueberries and #Sovereignty, documents the wild blueberry harvest of the Wabanaki #IndigenousPeople from the USA and Canada as the tribes are challenged to balance blueberry hand raking traditions with the economics of the world market. The documentary was filmed from 2014 to 2019 and was released in 2020. It has been part of nine film festivals, part of the Maine Public’s Film Series, and at many colleges and universities across Maine and New England.

"Pre-Registration to view the film and to participate in the online panel discussion is required, please sign up below. Registrants will receive a follow up email with instructions and a link to the film and event.

"For questions contact: Tom Reynolds [email protected], 207-831-6980

"This event is free and open to the public. Contributions supporting our ongoing work are greatly appreciated.

"Nancy Ghertner, the film’s director, lives along Lake Ontario in New York. She was introduced to the Passamaquoddy at Sipayik while she was a student at Colby College where she was involved in a research project related to the tribal communities of Maine. She subsequently followed a path into the visual arts and has created numerous experimental and documentary films. Her 2011 feature documentary, 'After I Pick the Fruit' was screened at various film festivals and received a Documentary Achievement awards. 'Voices from the Barrens,' was started from Nancy’s research into agriculture labor across the international border."

Watch:
https://video.wlrn.org/video/voices-from-the-barrens-native-people-blueberries-and-sovereignty-ciuec4/

FMI:
https://www.wabanakireach.org/voices_from_the_barrens_film_discussion

#WabanakiREACH #WabanakiAlliance #WildBlueberries #MaineBlueberries #BlueberryHarvest #IndigenousSovereignty #FoodSovereignty #TraditionalHarvesting #TraditionalFoodSources #MaineEvents #BigAg #SolarPunkSunday