Forrest Hill landowners to split $12 million in PFAS payout

The Federal Court last month approved a $132.7 million settlement, meaning funds will start flowing to around 3900 registered landowners living near seven separate defence force bases across the country.

The class action was initiated by Shine Lawyers, with 1000 Forest Hill landowners among those eligible for a payout.

About 400 of the eligible Wagga landowners registered for the payout by the June 30 cut-off date, according to Shine Lawyers.

About $20 million has been allocated to Wagga residents. However, it is estimated just $12.2 million of that will be left after legal fees are deducted.

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The amount each landowner receives will be determined by the type of property they own, whether it has bore water and the property's market value.

Joint head of class actions at Shine Lawyers Craig Allsopp said there will be no money left over despite the significant number of people in Wagga who didn't register.

"There will be no leftover sum, as the amount allocated to each site is to be distributed on a pro-rata basis to the registered group members for each site," Mr Allsopp said.

"For Wagga, the approximately $12.2 million remaining for distribution to group members after legal costs and funding commission will be distributed in its entirety, on a pro-rata basis, to the Wagga group members that registered claims.

"If there are any amounts that are not collected by registered group members, the court will make further orders for the distribution of those amounts, and will likely direct them to an appropriate charity."

A Forest Hill resident who was eligible for the payout but chose not to register due to wanting to initiate their own lawsuit said the settlement was significantly less than the damage caused.

"Say it was split evenly and each person who registered got about $30,000, that doesn't cover the amount each person would lose in property value due to contamination, and it certainly doesn't compensate for any health issues the contamination might cause," the resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said.

The class action settlement prevents future lawsuits from participants over decreases in land values due to contamination.

However, anyone affected by personal injury or illness due to the pollution can still sue for damages.

The government has not admitted liability in agreeing to the settlement.

The class action has also left people living near the Blamey Barracks at Kapooka, which the Department of Defence has acknowledged is also contaminated, reeling.

The Kapooka Creek, which is contaminated with PFAS, runs through San Isidore resident Tom Hughes' property.

Mr Hughes has been fighting for compensation for years and said he and other San Isidore residents have been repeatedly disregarded.

"The fight isn't over for San Isidore residents - we should have been included in this class action," Mr Hughes said.

"Why should we have to do another class action?"

Mr Hughes said the Department of Defence had admitted his property was contaminated and he has the documents to prove it, yet he has been unable to get anywhere in seeking compensation.

"They've admitted Marshalls Creek and Kapooka Creek are both contaminated and they all run into the Murrumbidgee River, I think the whole of Wagga is contaminated," he said.

An assessment by the department found the PFAS contamination from Blamey Barracks had a low exposure risk to human health. However, the assessment did identified a potentially elevated exposure risk from eating fish caught from dams along the Kapooka Creek and eating home-reared lamb, where sheep have drunk water from dams.

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