Community Meeting on Environmental Health Issues in Royal George

Dr Chrissie Pickin

Deputy Director Public Health

Why are we here?

• To listen to your concerns about your and your family’s health

• To let you know what we think will happen next

• Ask you how you want to get involved in the investigation

• Plan what to do and when to come up next

Your concerns from last week?

Why weren’t we told earlier- was it kept a secret?

What exactly is the problem? Will it make us ill? Will we get better if it

has? What will happen now? Any other questions or concerns?

Who is involved?

PEHS: Public & Environmental

Health Services

Management Plan

Royal George Residents

MRT: Mineral Resources Tasmania

EPA: Environmental

Protection Authority

NMC: Northern Midlands Council

The History – this time around

• Mid March – we received an email from NMC expressing concerns• Collected samples early May ( dry)

– River samples OK• Met with EPA and MRT to discuss the matter and the past• 17th June took more samples after heavy rain. Noted residents still

taking river water and only 4 had rainwater tanks • 2nd July got the results

– River samples showed v high levels of arsenic, lead and cadmium – Aluminium and iron also but these not a health hazard

• Advised MRT and NMC of the need to provide clean drinking water before the next heavy rain event

• Tank arrived 22nd July• Letter to residents 23rd July and to local Drs end of July• Continued to meet with EPA and MRT

LONGER HISTORY

• 1880s – area discovered to contain minerals• 1911 – Tin Mine Company founded• 1922 – Mine closed• Lots happened between 1922 and 1995

………….

Mining Resources Tasmania

• 1995 Agreed to set up Rehabilitation of Abandoned Mining Lands Trust Fund ( from mining companies royalties)

• 2005 MRT started investigating remediation options for the Royal George site

• 2005 MRT advised NMC all residential water off-takes to be relocated upstream of tailings

• 2006 Pit & Sherry report• 2007 residents advised not to drink the water from the river• 2008 MRT started a 3 yr program to apply lime and fertiliser prior to

attempting revegetation• MRT will put a remediation proposal to the Trust Fund on 9th

September 2010

So back to health issues

• What are we concerned about- will it make you ill?

• Should you be worried?• What we want you to do now?

What are we concerned about?

• Hazardous heavy metals are in the area – this is not so unusual and is not necessarily a health problem.

Exposure pathways Can this be this a health hazard?

Is this happening at Royal George?

Drinking water supply Yes definitely Intermittently

Dust in air being breathed

Sometimes (e.g. smelters) No

Eating contaminated food- fruit, veg, fish

Possibly ?

Swimming or bathing in water

No Yes (but no risk)

Eating contaminated soil Yes, particularly children ?

So we need to know more about

• How often the river water is contaminated• How contaminated the soil is• Is anything getting into your vegetables or

fish• So we have organised an “environmental

monitoring program”• Whether you have absorbed any metals

already?

Has it or will it do you or your children any harm

• Blood tests today to see if you have absorbed any lead in your body ( from contaminated water, soil, paint, hobbies etc)

• Like it 10 or under for adults & 5 or under for children. • Also test for cadmium. Could be high if you smoke or

ex smoker as tobacco contains cadmium• Results will go to your GP and to us. You can get

your results from your GP in about 2 – 3 weeks time• If these are normal then you haven’t absorbed

enough to cause you any harm

What about arsenic?

• Harder to measure as it leaves your blood and urine very quickly

• Two forms of arsenic- one harmless form is found in fish and seafood. Difficult for the test to distinguish so need to exclude fish and seafood from your diet before the test.

• If your lead &cadmium are normal the arsenic will be too- as they are all mixed up together in the water and soil.

• If you want a test for arsenic then let us know and we can arrange it.

• Hair and toe nails tests not recommended by experts

If blood tests are all normal• Unlikely to come to any harm now or in the

future• Still don’t drink the river water• Don’t eat soil!

– Watch children– Wash hands often and always before you eat– Keep house free from mud and dust ( wet mop

and vacuum often)– Wash your veggies with clean water

• Take care with car batteries, lead paint and sinkers

If your blood tests aren’t normal

• Doesn’t mean you been harmed– Everybody is exposed to heavy metals– Only toxic to humans at relatively high levels over

a relatively long period of time• We will do further tests • We will interview you about how you live and what

you do• We will arrange advice and treatment if necessary• We will link the environmental testing with the blood

results to find a cause

Stuart Heggie- State Environmental Health Manager

Talk about the environmental sampling program

Monitoring program

• Who is involved– Public and Environmental Health Services

(DHHS)– Environment Protection Authority (EPA)– Northern Midlands Council– Mineral Resources Tasmania (MRT)

Monitoring program

• When will monitoring begin– Phase One: Commences now until

Christmas– Phase Two: Continued water monitoring

after MRT improvements to check if improvements have worked

– Phase Two (Optional): • Will depend on outcomes of Phase One• Will focus on specific issues from Phase One

Sample Where How often/how many samples

St Pauls River - water Upstream, at Royal George, downstream

Monthly for four months

St Pauls River - sediments Upstream, at Royal George and downstream

Five samples – one off

Rainwater Three rainwater tanks Total nine samples to be collected after 3 periods of dry spell followed by rain (incl dust in gutters)

Fish St Pauls River upstream, at Royal George and St Pauls River dowstream

Total of eight fish

Veggies/Soil Residents home grown vegetable garden

10-20 samples when grown

Monitoring Program

• What is being tested for

– Arsenic– Aluminium– Cadmium– Chromium– Copper– Iron– Manganese– Nickel– Lead– Zinc

• In all water, soil and food samples

Your involvement

• Have we answered your questions for now?• We will put information as it comes in on our

website www.dhhs.tas.gov.au/peh/current_public_health_issues

• We will come back when we have some results to share with you

• Do you need/want anything else from P&EHS?