Cheryl Balkwill has spent almost a decade on one of the hobby farm blocks typical of San Isidore and says her life in the idyllic rural suburb has become a "nightmare" because of the controversial fire retardant PFAS.

Her neighbour Tom Hughes has lived in San Isidore for 35 years and fears residents could be at risk, after the Victorian fire brigade in 2020 banned the consumption of vegetables grown at its fire stations because of potential PFAS contamination.

Per and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are found in certain firefighting foam that in April was banned for all training and demonstration purposes in NSW, but which was widely used across Australia until the 1990s.

Defence commissioned an investigation in 2019 into PFAS contamination around Blamey Barracks, which found a "potential unacceptable risk" to the health of residents living near to Kapooka Creek who ate homegrown produce irrigated with surface water.

"We're supposed to be the garden city of the south but we can't grow veggies in our garden and eat them. I've had two cancers. I've got a heart problem. My wife's got a kidney problem," Mr Hughes said. "It's the health of my family, the health for children that might be moving into the area."

A Human Health and Ecological Risk Assessment (HHERA) is under way to evaluate the potential exposure-risks in the Kapooka area. A NSW Environment Protection Authority spokeswoman said the EPA "understands from Defence that the HHERA is due for completion in May 2021".

Ms Balkwill is calling for compensation from Defence after multiple attempts to sell her property, which is approaching 700 days on the market.

"[It's] a vicious cycle. Each winter, you think, well, I won't be here next winter. I won't have to worry ... this is the third winter I'm going into," she said. "I can't even begin to tell you how trapped I am."

The Department of Health maintains there is little evidence that exposure to PFAS causes adverse health effects, although the federal government has funded an Australian National University study to better understand the possible link.

It isn't clear exactly how many properties near the Blamey Barracks are potentially tainted by PFAS, because homeowners had to consent to having the Defence-commissioned company carry out testing in 2019.

Ms Balkwill was one resident who agreed and she is now stuck working from home for a Wodonga-based company. She is desperate to move there to reunite with her daughter, but is unable to sell her home for what it is worth because of the contamination.

Ms Balkwill claims the barracks have been reluctant to communicate with her since the investigation and have shown a "lack of concern" about her predicament.

The 2019 Defence review of Ms Balkwill's property detected PFAS levels above the "health-based guidance values".

PFAS was also detected in the water and in some of the plants in her kitchen garden.

Last year, she was hospitalised "bordering on" renal failure as a result of a rare autoimmune disease that she is unable to link to PFAS exposure, but which she said doctors couldn't find the cause of.

Her former partner, who lived with her at the property until 2019, was a keen poultry farmer who had to euthanise his beloved birds because they were found to be contaminated.

"The fact that we were eating eggs that were very highly contaminated raises questions ... It's just always in the back of your mind," Ms Balkwill said.

"We were upset to learn that our sheep had been grazing on pasture grown in contaminated soil and drinking contaminated water.

"My greatest concern is for our children who were living with us at the time."

In December, Ms Balkwill wrote to Member for Riverina Michael McCormack, pleading with him to approach Defence and ask them to buy her property.

"We are aware that [Defence] have been buying up other properties abutting their land in the Wagga area," she wrote.

Correspondence from Minister for Defence Personnel and Veterans' Affairs Darren Chester to Mr McCormack said the government was not considering a land purchase program but that Defence was open to "possible alternate legal claims".

Compounding Ms Balkwill, Mr Hughes and their neighbours' problems is the issue of flooding, because any heavy rain sees a torrential flow of stormwater from the army base that turns their paddocks into dirty lakes.

Ms Balkwill and Mr Hughes both say the flooding has been exacerbated in recent years by the construction of a car park and other drainage works carried out at the army base.

In a statement, Mr McCormack said he had been advised that Defence was undertaking "significant environmental works to minimise stormwater run-off and to increase rainwater retention within Blamey Barracks".

"My office will continue to engage with affected landholders and Defence to ensure the best possible outcomes for residents," he said.

Mr Hughes has also raised concerns about Wagga City Council "forgetting" San Isidore, saying he has been fighting for street-lighting and other amenities.

He claims council backtracked on a decision to install sewerage infrastructure in the suburb because of the risk PFAS contamination could pose during any major earthworks.

Council's top urban planner, director of regional activation Michael Keys, said there were "a multitude of reasons" why San Isidore wasn't earmarked for intensification, including that council wanted to maintain a diverse mix of houses.

"I wouldn't rule out that there's issues around PFAS. And that's being investigated and being dealt with. But there are bigger issues in regards to the long-term future and planning for the city," he said.

He said council's infrastructure team was happy to talk to residents as part of its investigation into the overland flow of stormwater in the area

The Daily Advertiser sent questions to the Department of Defence but it did not respond by deadline.