Former mining town's preschool again at risk of lead exposure

High lead levels found at Captains Flat town's new preschool In short: High lead levels have been detected at the local preschool at Captains Flats, a small town just outside the ACT border in New South Wales. It has sparked fresh community concerns around how authorities are managing ongoing contamination, with the school already having relocated once due to risks of lead exposure. What's next? The Captains Flat Community Association says there is no clear long-term plan to remove lead from the town, and it is unknown whether funding to do so will be continued. Lead levels eight times above the reportable threshold were found in the playground of the Captains Flat preschool during routine testing last week. The outdoor playground and garden areas of the current preschool have been closed as a safety measure, though children are still attending and are being kept inside. In 2021, about four decades after the Lake George gold mine closed, lead was found in surface soils across the NSW Tablelands town of Captains Flats, which is 40 kilometres from Canberra. At that time, the preschool — which locals had already fought once to keep up and running — had to close and relocate after results showed the soil in and around the playground was "quite deeply contaminated with lead". Ellanor Pavlovich, president of Captains Flat Community Association, aired frustration that lead had again been found at the preschool after efforts to relocate it. "It is disappointing that there is discovery of lead on this site," she said. "It does raise the question of 'why are we finding contamination again, after they have already tested the site?" Ms Pavlovich said the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) did appear to be acting "swiftly" to mitigate the risk at the preschool, but said she wanted it to move quicker to address exposure risks across Captains Flat. "While it's really important for the preschool to have this remediation done as quickly as possible, there are a number of kids that live in the town and a number of private properties and private land in the town that still need to be remediated," she said. "Particularly given that the declaration around contamination was made in 2021, and we're now coming to the end of 2026." The preschool is expected to reopen on Monday, with the EPA saying works will be completed in coming days. Fears $1m fund 'won't go that far' The former mining community is heavily contaminated with lead; some public spaces have levels hundreds of times above the threshold. From today, Captains Flat residents can register to access a $1 million community fund to remove lead from their private properties. That includes free soil testing by the NSW EPA, which the EPA said will inform future mitigation efforts. But Ms Pavlovich said there were concerns the fund would not cover the whole town, given that contamination was ongoing, and it was unclear whether more money was available. Local member for Monaro Steve Whan promised to ensure money would not run dry. "We've got a program that didn't exist a year ago; it's one that came with the last budget. If it needs more money at the end of that, we're not going to leave the job half done," he said. "As local member, I’ll be asking for more if that's required to finish the job." "I'm confident that should we need more money when this is finished, I'll be able to get it." He added he believed the risk at the new preschool site was not as great as it was at the previous site, which closed in 2021. "My understanding is that on the new site, there is a small area that's been identified with potentially ... elevated lead levels," he said. "But it's certainly nowhere near where the old preschool was, which was quite adjacent to the old mine area and the workings in the area." EPA says it understands the community's concerns In a statement, a spokesperson for the NSW EPA said it understood the community's concerns about the lead contamination and appreciated "their patience as we work to reduce potential exposure". The government regulator said further testing was undertaken last week and today, with "no further elevated lead levels identified". "The EPA has been working closely with Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council and other NSW Government agencies to develop a program to help reduce exposure risks and create safer outdoor spaces,"the spokesperson said. The regulator said the $1 million community fund was "an important step towards supporting eligible residents to identify and manage lead contamination on their properties".