Captains Flat Lead Management Plan

In February 2020 elevated levels of lead were discovered in the disused rail corridor adjacent to the legacy Lake George Mine in Captains Flat, a small former mining town located approximately 45 kilometres southeast of Queanbeyan, NSW. The mine operated from 1882 until 1962, producing lead, zinc, copper, pyrite, silver and gold.

The Department of Regional NSW engaged Ramboll to prepare a Lead Management Plan (LMP) for the Captains Flat community of about 600 people under direction of an interdepartmental government taskforce.

The LMP presents a management plan for contamination linked to the historic metalliferous mining and land-fill activities within the community of Captains Flat. It describes a process for long term environmental monitoring and evaluation of management processes and outcomes and provides strategies to minimise and manage risks from exposure to contamination associated with the former Lake George Mine site.

The LMP provides a model for other community scale lead contamination issues in Australia informing a consistent response based on current science.

A collaborative approach

The Captains Flat Lead Management Taskforce was established in January 2021, with Ramboll working collaboratively with a range of stakeholders, including the Department of Regional NSW – Regional Development, the NSW Environment Protection Authority, NSW Health, the NSW Department of Planning and Environment, Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council, Transport for NSW and the NSW Department of Education to address exposure risks from lead linked to historical mining and landfill activities within the environment and the community.

Working with the community

Ramboll’s scope of work included:

• community scale contamination assessment across soil, surface water, sediment, groundwater, air borne dust and internal dust
• human health and ecological risk assessments, including 1. bioavailability/ bioaccessibility assessment for lead in soil and development of site specific assessment criteria, 2. provision of technical content for digital community surveys for water usage, integration of results in site specific exposure assessments and development of site specific assessment criteria, and 3. exposure assessments for lead in internal dust based on how affected public buildings were being used and how often they were being used
• participation in taskforce workshops to review best practice in management of community scale lead contamination
• reviews of Environmental Factors and remediation planning for contaminated public spaces
• completion of ongoing environmental monitoring, and
• participation in community engagement sessions.

Leaving a positive legacy

Development of the Captains Flat LMP is supplemented by concurrent planning for rehabilitation of the Lake George Legacy Mine and remediation of the Captains Flat rail loading area. Together these plans represent a framework for meaningful improvement of contaminant exposure risks left by historic mining practices and related activities in Captains Flat.