Children in the Cadia region need YOU!!
Donation protected
Our region has been inundated for years with contaminated tailings dam and vent dust.
Potential sources are:
- Tailings dams with a surface area equivalent to more than 850 Sydney Cricket Grounds
- The vent shaft, operates with no filtration and emits crushed rock particles at 18 times the permitted rate.
The Cadia Community Sustainability Network (CCSN) is urgently raising funds to:
- Pay for children in the Cadia region to have a full health screening (blood and hair) for heavy metal contamination
- Assist members of the community to complete independent health testing for heavy metal contamination (blood and hair)
- Continue to test domestic rainwater tanks for heavy metal contamination
- To support our submission to the Parliamentary Inquiry
How can your donation support us?
- $10 will pay for a single element to be tested in a child’s hair
- $20 will pay for 4 elements to be analysed in a drinking water tank
- $200 will support a child to have a full hair analysis completed
The CCSN was established by community members to safeguard the economic, social and environmental future of the region.
On Tuesday 25 July 2023, the NSW Upper House announced a Parliamentary Inquiry which will allow our community to present our significant health and environmental concerns in this region.
The Parliamentary Inquiry will investigate "Current and potential impacts of gold, silver, lead and zinc mining on human health, land, air and water quality in New South Wales". Regulatory decisions about the impact of mining on local communities MUST be based upon medical facts, not a desktop analysis.
In 2023 the NSW Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) determined that Cadia Valley Operations the largest gold mine in the Southern Hemisphere has been extracting emissions from its main ventilation shaft, with no filtration (including dust from the crusher containing heavy metals) at a rate of 100km/ for several years. (See Ref 1&2)
"The EPA has quite rightly pulled us into line on the lack of compliance because there's too much dust coming from the vent rise," CVO general manager Mick Dewar said." ABC News article (See Ref 3)
At present, we have many community members (including children) with heavy metal contamination in their blood, urine and hair. NSW Health has instructed local General Practitioners to only test residents if they have symptoms and only for a very limited range of elements (lead).
The CCSN's intention is to ensure the current impacts on our community, the health and household contamination, the financial stress, the hundreds of volunteer hours, and the emotional toll NEVER happens to another community in Australia.
The CCSN is seeking legislative, planning and regulatory change whereby State Regulators can ensure compliance through meaningful enforcement.
YOUR support is gratefully appreciated, not only for the benefit of the Cadia Community but for all Australians affected by mining in the future.
We CAN make a difference.... together.
Further information can be found here:
(1) https://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/news/media-releases/2023/epamedia230621-epa-requires-immediate-action-by-newcrest-to-comply
(2) https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jun/23/dust-newcrest-cadia-goldmine-11-times-regulatory-limit
Organizer
Cadia Community Sustainability Network
Organizer
Ophir, NSW