00:02Six decades after the mine closed and five years after the town was officially declared
00:08riddled with lead contamination, the government's plan hasn't yet passed the pub test.
00:13We've been told for years that something's been done, nothing's ever done.
00:17It's just another bullshit, that's what I get from the people at the bar.
00:24As lead, zinc, copper, silver and gold were extracted, spoil from the mine was spread
00:30across town as backfill, leaving widespread contamination. Anything above 300 milligrams
00:36of lead per kilogram is considered dangerous.
00:39I've got about 400 over here, up to 1,600 over here on my land. My neighbours here sit at
00:46about 3,000.
00:47In June, the New South Wales government announced a million-dollar fund for residents to remove toxic
00:52soil and other materials to this containment area just outside of town.
00:57We just need them to communicate with us and tell us exactly how it's going to be administered.
01:02The government has promised details on how the fund will work in the coming weeks, with
01:06the Environmental Protection Agency to administer it, working with the Queanbeyan-Palaran Council
01:11and other agencies. But Eleanor says people are worried about being caught in a bureaucratic
01:16feedback loop.
01:17We have multiple government departments that intersect within the town and they don't
01:23want to work together.
01:24Local resident Levi wants to build two houses on this block of land.
01:28I have a $42,000 quote just for the soil removal. That's not its replacement, that's not the next
01:33stage of the development process to actually build the properties.
01:36He's unsure if the fund will cover those works.
01:39There's been so little information. I don't know if I can progress.
01:41A former gold mining town at risk of becoming a money pit.
01:45I want to have the funds to be purchased and put this into account.
01:48All of the other parts are on, and you may have been able to start.
01:49The project has been made to adapt, that's a lot of the parts.
01:51Now you have no idea which you have to work together.
01:51Let's see if you can do the best.
01:52As a recent comment of it, it'll are on the right side of the fields and the rest of
01:52the field.
01:52This is about the main target points.
01:52You
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