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Lead-safety Message: “These images are taken from the Tasmanian Smelters site at the silver lead mining town of Zeehan on Tasmania’s rugged and wild west coast. Zeehan once had a thriving township and 111 mines but mining ceased in the 1960’s. Acid mine drainage and lead, arsenic and cadmium metal leachate from the mines and smelters continues to contaminate several waterways that flow into the Little Henty River which flows south west from Zeehan into the Great Southern Ocean. Many parts of the Zeehan township remain highly contaminated with lead and other toxic metals. The West Coast Council does not provide any information to people wanting to buy cheap properties in west coast mining towns such as Zeehan and therefore buyers are not given a right to know about any potential health risks associated with living on properties that may have dangerously high levels of metals including lead, arsenic and cadmium. Zeehan is known to be the most highly contaminated mining town in Tasmania and the Tasmanian Smelters site probably the most toxic.“

Artist: Isla MacGregor

Soundtrack: “Friday Night Improv” by Ian Smith

Materials: Adobe Photoshop, Olympus PEN E-PL1 Digital Camera, SONY A7R Mirrorless Camera