Broken Hill is an Australian mining town steeped in history. The town’s legacy of union struggles for workers’ rights is chronicled through street plaques, protected heritage buildings, and murals reminiscent of early-20th-century Mexican muralism.
Under the expansive grey sky over Broken Hill, enormous mining wealth has been created – stretching from Australia to northern Chile and further. As with most forms of wealth, it is rooted in human hardship. In Broken Hill, mining wealth has been accumulated at the cost of children’s exposure to lead contamination.
Last July, Australia’s New South Wales (NSW) state government, which includes Broken Hill, announced AU$37.3 million (approximately US$26.74 million) to address lead contamination. The funding, as stated in the announcement, will lead to a “twofold increase in the number of homes remediated annually, including the removal of lead-based paint to eliminate lead contamination, the installation of grass to trap dust, and enhanced monitoring of emissions from existing mines and other localized dust sources.”
In Broken Hill, emissions from mining and smelting are the primary source of exposure. Elevated blood lead levels among local children signal a public health crisis. The announcement “underscored a commitment to protect children and families from the long-term effects of lead exposure.”
