Defence has warned residents who live near Oakey's Army Aviation Centre not to drink bore water as a result of chemical contamination to the underground water supply.
The department is investigating the presence of two chemicals in the bore water supply for the rural town about 140 km west of Brisbane.
The chemicals, Perfluorooctane sulphonate and Perfluorooctanoic acid, were components of firefighting foams used during training activities staged at the military centre between 1970 and 2005 and the chemicals could also be found in a number of household and industrial products such as cleaning products, textiles and paper and packaging products.
A Defence spokesman said the chemicals were known as "emerging contaminants" and there had been limited research on the possible health impacts of exposure.
"As a precaution, Defence does not recommend drinking any water sourced from underground water bores located within the investigation area. It is important to stress that it is safe to drink the town water," the spokesman said.
Read more at the Toowoomba Chronicle.
