The Pasminco lead smelter closed down in 2003. But it left behind a toxic legacy that devastated the environment and the lives of residents living in the surrounding community.
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In 2014, The Newcastle Herald revealed in a joint investigation with Macquarie University that, despite official assurances the area was safe, there were alarming levels of lead and other heavy metals found in homes and public places at Boolaroo, Speers Point and Argenton.
The operation to clean up the Pasminco area was said to be among the largest in Australia's history. It involved gaining NSW government approval in 2014 to place 1.9 million cubic metres of contaminated material into a 45-metre-high containment cell in a 19-hectare are on the site.
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The site was scraped back to the rock to remove contaminated material after the Herald's investigation found that a state-sanctioned clean up of toxic land two years earlier at north Lake Macquarie had failed.
Dangerous levels of heavy metal pollution were found across three suburbs, a catalogue of government failings and residents feared sick from past exposure.
Lead experts said exposure to the contaminated soil and dust could cause sickness, brain damage, behavioural problems and retardation in children.
More than 130 soil and household dust samples were taken from homes, sports fields, parks and schools in Boolaroo, Speers Point, Argenton and Teralba as part of the joint Herald and Macquarie University investigation.
Results, analysed at the National Measurement Institute, found lead in soil more than 14 times the Australian residential standard of 300 parts per million (ppm) and arsenic inside a home almost 300 percent above the safe level.
The complete investiagtion
2015
- Work starts to remove slag from foreshore September 16
- Silence over toxic contamination angers community September 4
- Hundreds of former Pasminco employees may be eligible for financial compensation, lawyer says August 27
- Woman 'duped' over land sale August 16
- Slag off: Mess to be fixed August 11
- Containment cell proposed August 6
- Lead contamination funding call August 6
- Blood-lead test results please Boolaroo Action Group July 21
- Toxic Truth: Blood tests begin, but parents still concerned June 29.
- Free blood-lead tests for children offered with $20 gift voucher June 28
- Free lead testing 'too little too late' June 24
- Pasminco clean-up overdue June 23
- Call to completely remove black slag, not just cover it June 22
- Exposed - black slag on lake shore uncovered by storm June 21
- Lead levels in slag 30 times over safe limit June 21
- Soil test results due soon June 19
- Newcastle Herald wins UN World Environment Day award for Toxic Truth June 5
- Experts slash lead exposure threshold May 19
- Faster lead-blood level tests soon available May 19
- Request like a lead balloon May 15
- More spent on cows than people in lead protection May 10
- Lead pollution group to work with community May 1
- EDITORIAL: Time to end delay on lead April 19
- Claims children used as pollution guinea pigs April 19
- Flaws exposed in toxicity tests at home near Pasminco April 9
- Pollution test results will be made public March 20
- Lead levels put land on hold March 20
- US case a positive precedent for lead lawsuit March 19
- Fears of lead poisoning near former smelter March 1
- Residents demand action over contamination February 25
- Meeting to discuss Pasminco February 24
- Cleaning up with $33m in fees February 24
- Council to skip pollution forum February 20
- Funds to renew blood testing February 19
- Scientist returns to Boolaroo to dig up slag February 5.
- Slag dumped at Speers Point park January 7
2014
- Company hit leaching risk identified in report December 28
- Slag taints foreshore December 28
- Residents not aware of contamination December 28
- GREG RAY: Either home or hosed December 19
- Group seeks community rep on panel December 18
- Group sorts out priorities December 17
- Lead in petrol issue stole debate from Lake Macquarie health crisis December 15
- Boolaroo lead problems sidelined December 15
- We wont back down December 13
- Cap on contaminated soil too shallow for trees December 13
- State 'stonewalling' on Boolaroo remediation December 13
- OPINION: Boolaroo - the town I call home December 13
- Residents demand Boolaroo clean up December 12
- Pasminico remediation criticised December 12
- Prisoners of propaganda December 8
- Renewed hope for lead compo December 6
- Baird will hear concerns over Pasminco legacy December 5
- New home joy turned to shock at lead levels December 4
- Wash, wipe youll be right December 4
- 'Cap and cover' failed to protect December 3
- Contamination fears for junior footballers December 2
- Attempt to get more help for community December 2
- Goodwill sought in land clean-up December 1
- Patch test checks for safe soils December 1
- Waiver deal could face legal challenge December 1
- Residents outraged remediation no longer legally required December 1
- Ian Kirkwood on Pasmincos rocky road December 1
- OPINION: Recollections of a great place to grow up November 29
- OPINION: Pushing for people power November 29
- Black slag spread in parks despite possible health risks November 29
- Tests show high lead lurks in playgrounds November 29
- Evidence of leaching confirms suspicions November 29
- Black slag risks 'ignored' November 29
- Lead found unsafe at any level in body November 28
- Health risk disappearing without soil remediation November 28
- We simply left the house empty and walked away November 28
- Poisons legacy hangs heavy over adult lives November 27
- Residents lived happily unaware of hidden poison November 27
- Our children aren't 'canaries' November 27
- Revealed: Link between violent crime and lead November 27
- Pollution remains, despite 'remediation site' label November 26
- Childhood spent in wastewater creek November 26
- Fish contamination study call November 26
- Conroy calls for EPA assurance November 26
- MP calls for review into failed smelter clean-up November 25
- Councillors concerned by State failures November 25
- Esperance lead clean-up best practice November 25
- No escaping dust for neighbours of moonscape November 25
- Professor warns of future chemical leak risk at Pasminco November 24
- Pasminco clean-up complete November 24
- Grid's net was not cast widely enough: study November 24
- Mixed emotions about a life spent at the smelter November 24
- Residents feel neglected in 'cover-up' November 24
- Lead in their lives leaves bitter legacy November 24
- Sad legacy of pollution November 22
- Kids health major worry for parents November 22
- Taxpayers to pay for clean-up November 22
- In the shadow of the smelter November 22
- Lead levels fluctuate wildly November 22
- Boolaroo through and through November 22
- Rise and fall in smelting moments November 22
- Residents want profits for clean-up November 22
- History of a heavy industry November 22
- High volume heavy metal November 22
- Testing methodology November 22
- Reports on lead in Boolaroo November 22
- Life at Boolaroo: The early years November 21
- The Pasminco Story | Part One
- The Pasminco Story | Part Two
- Toxic Truth: Little Things Matter
- Toxic Truth: Peter Lewis' view