Statement on environmental lead risks at Broken Hill report

The Broken Hill Environmental Lead Program (BHELP) steering committee commissioned a scientific study into the impacts of mining on blood lead levels in children in Broken Hill in 2018.

The report was provided to the community in 2020 through the BHELP steering committee, which included representatives from the Broken Hill Aboriginal community and the stakeholder community group convened by Broken Hill Council.

The final report, Environmental Lead Risks at Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia: Sources, Exposures and Forward Solutions (PDF 3.2MB), was published in 2023.

The EPA would like to acknowledge and apologise for the delay in formally publishing the report for a broader public audience. We are now implementing more rigorous internal processes to ensure this does not occur again, such as stronger procedures to govern the commissioning of reports and publication timelines.

We are proud of our record of protecting human health and the environment through strong regulation of the mining sector. The EPA has been embedded in the Broken Hill community for over a decade, overseeing programs designed to mitigate high lead levels. This important work is ongoing.

The NSW Government recognises ongoing action is needed in Broken Hill to manage lead levels in the community, and particularly in children.

The Broken Hill Environmental Lead Response Group, led by the Premier’s Department, coordinates a strategic, long-term, whole-of-government approach to reducing the community, health, and societal impact of environmental lead in Broken Hill, particularly for children, and to manage any ongoing impacts on children.

Since 2015, the NSW Government has committed more than $20 million to the BHELP program to fund blood lead screening – with around 92% of children aged one to five years screened in 2024  – home remediation, air quality monitoring, and awareness and education, to address childhood lead exposure in Broken Hill.

In the last financial year BHELP remediated 29 homes, and around 130 homes have been made safer for hundreds of residents since 2022.

The EPA’s written submission to the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure concerning the Bowdens Silver Mine project appropriately considered the potential for dust related impacts and the need for a comprehensive air quality monitoring along with a detailed air quality management plan. Our submission was consistent with advice in the Environmental Lead Risks report, which outlined the importance of air quality monitoring to reduce the risk of dust exposure to the community.