By KATH GANNAWAY
YARRA Ranges firefighter Mick Tisbury has told the Parliamentary Inquiry into the CFA Training College at Fiskville of training drills which he says put fire-fighters at risk.
In a detailed submission to the inquiry on Monday, 15 June, Mr Tisbury said that as a past instructor with the Metropolitan Fire Brigade, it still deeply concerns him that he had unwittingly exposed firefighters to harmful toxins and chemicals.
The Mail reported earlier in March this year that Mr Tisbury, an MFB firefighter and executive member of the United Firefighters’ Union, had been pushing for a thorough investigation into the use of toxic materials and water contamination for three years.
Fiskville was closed by the Labor Government in April after tests showed high levels of the toxic chemical PROS around the fire training area and in an area where the chemical had not been previously detected.
Mr Tisbury spoke at the inquiry, presenting information that detailed the process that led to wide media coverage on concerns of a cancer cluster in 2011.
He pointed to a series of reports since as early as 1988 that he said demonstrated contamination of the soil and water at the facility.
Mr Tisbury claimed in his submission that despite warnings from the UFU the CFA continued to claim there was no concern with the standard of the water at Fiskville or the water that was being used for firefighting training.
Mr Tisbury and the UFU have consistently questioned the lack of action by Worksafe and the CFA in the face of what he presented at the inquiry as damning reports.
The terms of reference of the inquiry include a study of pollution, contamination and unsafe activities at Fiskville over more than four decades, a study of the health impacts on employees, vicitors and residents and the role of past and present executive management at the facility.
The inquiry is also tasked with doing an assessment of the feasibility of decontamination of the site and providing recommendations to mitigate ongoing harm.
They will also make recommendations on providing justice to victim of harm and their families.
An interim report is to be provided by 30 June and a final report by no later than 1 December this year.
