Part of the Lake George mine at Captains Flat, which has left present residents with contamination concerns. Photo: NSW Government.
Captains Flat residents say that while news of plans for remediation efforts represents “a couple of stars” aligning, key details remain in the dark.
The town’s mine closed in 1962, but historical mining activities left parts of the township and surrounding environment contaminated.
In its latest update, NSW Resources confirmed a contract had been awarded for the building of a “containment cell’ to deal with historic waste from the mine.
“Historic mine site waste will be treated and encapsulated in a purpose-built containment cell on the mine site before capping and revegetating the site,” the update outlined.
“A walking track will be built around the existing lookout area and mine site as part of the construction works.”
Building the cell comes as the latest step in NSW Resources’ Legacy Mines Program’s rehabilitation of the mine and follows work by a local taskforce dealing with lead contamination.
Lead contamination was confirmed in Captains Flat in 2021 and its presence in surface soils has remained a key exposure pathway.
Captains Flat Community Association president Ellanor Pavlovich said the high price tag of remediation works meant the small town struggled to plan for the works with “any sense of reality”.
She pointed to recent news of a $1 million fund for Captains Flat residents looking to remediate their properties as a glimmer of hope that things were moving ahead.
The $1 million fund will be administered in conjunction with Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council.
The fund’s focus will be on helping households with surface soil lead concentrations that are above the national health investigation level carry out practical works.
“We’ve been waiting for this for so long and been told every six months to wait ‘another six months’ .. Perhaps I’m just cautiously optimistic that it’ll happen,” she said.
“I think that we’ve got a better chance of it working now if they’ve got the $1 million for remediation.”
Rehabilitation works have been carried out in the area since 1972. Photo: Department of Regional NSW.
In its update, NSW Resources confirmed space in the cell has been set aside for contaminated soil from local properties. But it’s still unclear how it will work.
“The NSW Government is working with the local council and the contractor to confirm the process for Captains Flat residents who would like to move soil from their yards and dispose of it,” the update states.
“Once the project team has confirmed the process for residents, we will provide an update.”
Ms Pavlovich understands the cell might be open for only 12 months, which would risk leaving residents behind.
“Without continued [upkeep], this could be 12 months of good news for us … It’s great that they’re opening it, it really is – but if they don’t keep it open, that would be my biggest concern.”
Captains Flat resident Cade McDermott isn’t putting hope in the cell.
He told Region that he believed the $1 million fund just won’t go far enough, describing the scope of needed works as “prohibitively expensive”.
“The containment cell is nowhere near big enough to remediate Captain’s Flat … That million dollars will disappear.”
Mr McDermott called for an expert to be on hand, guiding the use of the money, and said using geofabric (a man-made barrier that would cover the waste) would be a much cheaper way of managing mine waste.
“You could do the whole town for half a million dollars … Instead, they want to build the world’s biggest hole and try to put a suburb’s worth of dirt into it.”
Construction of the cell is expected to begin by late August.
This will mean increased truck movements and heavy machinery on-site from late July, while travel along Miners Road could be impacted during construction.
The road could be closed or under traffic control.
Region contacted NSW Resources to ask for more information on the ‘containment cell’, but did not receive a response before publication.
