Residents of Pacific Palms on the NSW central coast did not want to give up tank for town water after tests had detected worrying levels of OC contamination of the town supply. Resident Ross Bowen was particularly concerned about the attitude of the NSW Government:
We are interested in Mr Causley’s statements… that NSW residents were protected by the high standards set and the testing regimes adopted for possible food and water contamination. The water supply planned for Pacific Palms comes from the Wingham area which has cattle quarantined for high pesticide residues. Our group … have been testing the planned water supply … and note that dieldrin and aldrin are present. The levels vary from 0.1 to 0.4 ppb and as such they are under the MRLs adopted by the NSW Government. What concerns our group is that these MRLs are based on 1971 information and they are now 30 times higher than the WHO recommendations of 0.03ppb. p204 Quick Poison Slow Poison. Pesticide Risk in the Lucky Country. 1994 Kate Short.