Dam dust: Ballarat residents challenge proposed gold mine expansion

Residents have taken the City of Ballarat to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal over the decision to approve a fourth tailings dam for Ballarat Gold MineSign up for the Rural Network email newsletterJoin the Rural Network group on Facebook to be part of the communityIn February this year, Jen Geddes sent a vacuumed dust sample from her Ballarat home to Macquarie University to be tested.Geddes lives at Mount Clear, 330 metres away from a Ballarat Gold Mine tailings dam facility. The sample from her vacuum showed arsenic levels of 51mg/kg. The Australian median for arsenic in household dust, according to Macquarie University's Dustsafe laboratory, is 19mg/kg. There are no guideline figures for levels of arsenic within household dust, but the Australian National Environment Protection Council trace metal guideline for arsenic in soil is 100mg/kg.Sign up to receive Guardian Australia's fortnightly Rural Network email newsletter Continue reading...