Groundwater prohibition area established at Woodville North
The EPA will establish a groundwater prohibition area (GPA) in parts of Woodville North and surrounding suburbs.
The area covers portions of Woodville North, Pennington and Athol Park.
The EPA has completed a 60-day community engagement process and considered all submissions.
The GPA will come into effect when it is gazetted on 9 November 2023 and will be the 11th in South Australia.
The GPA will prohibit the taking of water from bores to a depth to 20 metres for any purpose. The area is shown in the attached map.
The suburbs in this GPA have historically been areas where significant industrial and manufacturing activities such as the production of ammunitions, whitegoods and vehicles have been undertaken.
EPA Director of Policy, Assessment and Finance Kathryn Bellette said the EPA assessment has shown that groundwater in the upper three aquifers in the area is contaminated with a range of chemicals above drinking water guidelines.
“The purpose of establishing GPAs is to protect current and future landholders from accessing contaminated groundwater,” Ms Bellette said.
“Chemicals identified in the groundwater include chlorinated hydrocarbons such as trichloroethene (TCE) and tetrachloroethene (PCE) and their breakdown products and metals.”
Groundwater from bores in deeper tertiary aquifers, such as those used by council for the irrigation of ovals, are not known to be affected.
Not all bores are registered or known, but the prohibition covers the entire area of known contamination and a buffer zone.
There are 1,374 property titles in the GPA.
Mains water and rainwater are safe to use.