Meat from farms near Fiskville tested

Farms and animals near a contaminated Victorian firefighting training centre will be tested for chemicals.

Cows eat out of a trough at a dairy farm

(File: AAP) Source: AAP

Meat from animals at farms next to Victoria's controversial Fiskville firefighting training centre will be tested for chemical contamination.

An interim report into the centre near Ballarat has found the Country Fire Authority burned unknown chemicals mixed with carcinogens during live fire training exercises.

The government will also order the Country Fire Authority (CFA) to co-operate with people - many of whom have cancer - battling to get access to records of their time at Fiskville.

"Many people have told us they have had difficulty in getting information from the CFA," parliamentary inquiry chair Bronwyn Halfpenny said on Wednesday.

Emergency Services Minister Jane Garrett said testing on nearby farms and livestock would begin immediately.

"If those test results are concerning then of course there will have to be analysis about how livestock and farmland are dealt with," Ms Garrett said.

"Part of that may well need to be compensation for those land owners for their loss of livelihood."

One farmer gave evidence about how his daughters and livestock were found to have high levels of PFOS, a toxic chemical.

He said the CFA refused to give him more test results after he contacted a lawyer about his legal options.

The centre was closed in March after chemicals were found in the water, even after a site clean-up.

The CFA has yet to give evidence, which the United Firefighters Union (UFU) said was going to be the key part of the inquiry.

"It will take skilful questioning for the committee to peel away the decades of secrecy surrounding this sorry chapter in Victoria's history," UFU secretary Peter Marshall said.

Former Fiskville trainer Mick Tisbury said he wanted answers and for the CFA to take responsibility for hiding what happened at Fiskville.

"Don't treat your employees like expendable commodities. We're not resources, we're human beings. We've got families," he said.

CFA chief executive Michael Wootten said he accepted the committee's interim recommendations for greater transparency.

"CFA has been under the microscope during the inquiry and so it should be," he said.

"We will review the negative statements and allegations heard during the inquiry and respond as an organisation via further submissions to the inquiry on behalf of people who feel they have been unfairly judged."

The committee's final report will be handed down before December 1.


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Source: AAP


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