MORE than 500 residents caught up in the Oakey water contamination crisis could be part of a possible class action suit against the Department of Defence.

Shine Lawyers partner Peter Shannon said he had received overwhelming interest in legal action, more than two years after the Department first raised concerns about the presence of toxic chemicals from a nearby army base.

The revelations come as residents prepare to hear the findings of the department’s preliminary Ecological Risk Assessment report.

Townspeople will be meeting at two walk-in sessions about the report today from 10am and also 4pm at the Oakey Cultural Centre.

Presentations will be given by a senior Defence official and a research expert from AECOM.

People will also get the chance to talk one-on-one with experts about the report and the issues affecting it.

Mr Shannon, who met with residents about the possibility of a class-action suit earlier this month after securing funding for it from IMF, said the interest in litigation was caused by the Department’s lack of action on the issue.

“We’ve had 500 people register interest in a class-action, and…it’s looking like we’re getting an overwhelming response,” he said.

“Defence can resolve this at any time, it’s up to them. No one rushes into legal action and we can say two and half years is a fair crack.

“It’s pretty obvious that Defence have caused the problem – if they didn’t cause it by the chemicals, they did it by coming out (in 2014) and saying there was a problem.

“I don’t think defence can say the lawyers are the problem – we’ve spent years waiting to get something done.”

Residents of Oakey, who have held rallies in a bid to fight back against a negative image of the town, had met at the Cultural Centre back in September to hear the Human Health Risk Assessment report from the Department.

It was there people were told not to drink their bore water or eat locally-grown eggs, which had been found to be the main exposure pathways of PFAS and PFOA chemicals in residents’ blood samples.

Mr Shannon said people with contamination on their properties had been ‘trapped’ by the Department’s inaction on the crisis, which has been ongoing since 2003.

“It’s taken 13 years, (and) they came out in July 2014 and announced that the water was contaminated; (they) told the whole world that this area is contaminated,” he said.

“People are trapped – there are a lot of people who can’t save their properties, when all Defence has to do is say sorry and make it up to them.”