Michael Nicholls 
⚖️ Environmental penalties in NSW are no longer just about ecological damage. The NSW Land and Environment Court has fined the Forestry Corporation of NSW $450,000 for illegally logging giant and hollow-bearing trees in the Wild Cattle Creek State Forest. While the financial pena
Clean groundwater and scheme drinking water will not protect residents who keep backyard poultry on PFAS-impacted sites. A new study by the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment has confirmed widespread PFAS contamination in backyard chicken eggs. After a
Global supply chain pressures have forced a rollback of chemical emission standards. The US EPA has proposed weakening its air pollution limits for ethylene oxide. This move effectively dismantles a 2024 rule that mandated commercial sterilisation facilities reduce their emission
🚜 We may be systematically underestimating PFAS risks on former agricultural land. A major analysis released this week found that 37 percent of conventionally grown California produce contains PFAS pesticide residues. Out of 930 samples tested, 17 different PFAS residues were det
The most sweeping chemical ban in history has cleared a major regulatory hurdle. On 11 March 2026, the European Chemicals Agency advanced its universal restriction proposal for all PFAS. The Committee for Socio-economic Analysis has formally agreed on its draft opinion evaluating
Recent peer-reviewed research from CSIRO and the SA EPA has tracked contamination in South Australian dolphins over three decades. The data reveals a downward trend in total PFAS concentrations across the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary and Port River Estuary. This drop in PFOS valida
A 261-page government report has been labelled a “fairy tale” by Australia’s leading ecological scientists. The Biodiversity Council has strongly condemned the Australian Government’s first progress report to the United Nations under the Global Biodiversity Framework. While the g
🔋 Spent carbon from PFAS groundwater treatment at contaminated sites may soon become a useful resource for battery manufacturing. For Australian projects managing PFAS in groundwater, pump and treat systems using granular activated carbon are standard practice. However, the spent
Every smartphone in the community is now an extension of the environmental regulator’s monitoring network. A local resident in Victoria recently filmed a truck dumping over 1,000 litres of contaminated construction and demolition soil on a cleared residential block in Ashwood. Th
A 94 per cent reduction in groundwater remediation liability. A newly published technical case study demonstrates how PFAS forensic source differentiation can reduce a landowner’s cleanup footprint. At a bulk petroleum storage facility, consultants used chemical fingerprinting to