A GROUP of locals is worried about a threat to water quality in the Macleay River if contaminated soil is moved to an up river mine site.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The soil from a historical antimony processing site at Urunga could be stored and reprocessed at the Hillgrove mine near Armidale, and three Bellbrook residents are determined to do something about it.
Local school principal Arthur Bain, Dianne Nolan and Gary Kneebone are passionate about the Macleay River, which they say is the lifeblood of not just Bellbrook but all the towns and villages in the valley.
They are organising a public meeting at Bellbrook this Saturday to discuss the issue.
“The Crown Lands Department are looking at options on how to best clean up the site at Urunga, which is contaminated with antimony, arsenic, mercury and other heavy metals,” Mr Bain said.
“One of the options is to transfer the topsoil to the Hillgrove mine for storage and eventual reprocessing.
“We don’t want this material brought into our catchment area, particularly to a mine which has some history of releasing water into the river.”
Mr Bain said concerns about the quality of the Macleay River were real.
“The council built the Bellbrook water treatment plant because the quality of the river supply could not be relied upon,” he said.
“That is a lot of trouble and effort to go if there is no problem.”
The Hillgrove mine is in a ‘mothballed’ condition with only minimal maintenance activities taking place on site.
The mine has previously discharged waste water from storage dams at the site into the river which contained low levels of contamination.
A controlled release of 35 million litres of water took place in December, 2011.
Dianne Nolan has lived in Bellbrook for 46 years and says it is not just an ‘up-river’ issue.
“Remember the river goes all the way to South West Rocks and Stuarts Point so it is everybody’s problem,” she said.
“There is also no commercial benefit to the Macleay from the mine that I can see.
“All the jobs and the money will go to Armidale and we get the downside.
“The river is central to our towns and our lives.”
The Save our River meeting of concerned residents will be held at the Bellbrook Hotel from 11am on Saturday, January 12 and everybody is welcome to attend.
The Argus has been unable to contact a spokesman for the owners of the Hillgrove mine.
