"PFAS has to feature in next year's budget so we need the minister's response quickly" - Jersey Evening Post
by Julien Morel · Jersey Evening PostPosted inNews
“PFAS has to feature in next year’s budget so we need the minister’s response quickly”
by Julien Morel 22 July 202621 July 2026
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IT is essential that the government’s response to Islandwide contamination by a manmade chemical linked to cancer, infertility and high cholesterol is released as quickly as possible, a leading scrutineer has said.
Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Panel chair Hilary Jeune said she would continue to press new Environment Minister Mary Le Hegaret, who said recently that ‘technical briefings’ were being arranged so ministers could “fully understand” the findings of the three-member ‘scientific panel’ who advised the government on its response to PFAS in four reports published over three years.
Deputy Jeune said she and her panel of backbenchers would make sure that PFAS remained on the agenda.
“We will not sit and wait for the minister to respond in four or five months’ time,” she said. “It has to be as soon as possible because we see it as an important budget discussion and it needs to happen quickly.”
Deputy Jeune added that money to remediate PFAS would need to feature in next year’s budget, which is likely to be lodged in September and debated in December.
Specifically, she was referring to a key recommendation of the advisory panel: that a new standard for PFAS in drinking water is introduced. It has proposed a statutory limit of four nanograms per litre for the sum of the four most harmful PFAS types found in Jersey.
This limit became a divisive political subject in March, when then-Environment Minister Steve Luce proposed introducing the legal limit within five years. This led to a strong response from utility Jersey Water, who argued that implementing it would cost hundreds of millions of pounds – which would have to feature on bills, making Jersey’s drinking water the most expensive in the world.
With the Council of Ministers split and politicians calling for more information, Deputy Jeune, in effect, kiboshed the debate by calling the proposal in for more scrutiny, knowing that there was not enough time for it to return in that parliamentary term.
“We still need more detail, including how much money the government is prepared to pay to support remediation by Jersey Water, which is halfway through its trials on PFAS removal,” said Deputy Jeune.
“There are also lots of other matters to address, including PFAS in sea foam and boreholes. I appreciate that the Environment Minister has a lot to pick up, but the scientific panel did a lot of good work, including providing confidence that our food is safe.
“My panel is keenly waiting her response because PFAS has to be at the top of her agenda.”
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