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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Fleur Connick

Rainwater tank testing near NSW’s Cadia gold mine finds unsafe levels of mercury

Dr Ian Wright inspects a tank on a property near the Cadia goldmine holding water suspected of being contaminated by mercury.
Dr Ian Wright inspects a tank on a property near the Cadia goldmine holding water suspected of being contaminated with mercury. Photograph: Fleur Connick/The Guardian

An independent study of rainwater tanks near the Cadia goldmine in central west New South Wales has detected unsafe levels of mercury in some residents’ drinking water, nine months after widespread water testing conducted by NSW Health found no unsafe results.

The results come from an independent testing program conducted by Dr Ian Wright through the Cadia Community Sustainability Network (CCSN), which took water samples from kitchen taps and the top and bottom of rainwater tanks at 42 properties near the mine, between August and November 2023.

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