The Sludge Question : The Regulation of Mine Tailings in Nineteenth-Century Victoria

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Title: The Sludge Question : The Regulation of Mine Tailings in Nineteenth-Century Victoria
Creator: Lawrence, Susan
Creator: Davies, Peter
Subject: sludge
Subject: gold mining
Subject: water
Subject: Victoria history
Subject: 210108 Historical Archaeology
Date: 2014
Publisher: White Horse Press
Description: Mining waste was a significant environmental problem in nineteenth-century Victoria, an Australian colony dependent on gold mining for its economic prosperity. Sludge from alluvial (placer) workings and hard-rock mining flowed into rivers across the colony causing significant damage and disruption to downstream communities. The sludge problem was eventually resolved by the passage of legislation early in the twentieth century. The struggle to control sludge reveals changes in public perception over a fifty-year period, from acceptance of sludge as an inevitable consequence of industry to the identification of sludge as pollution that should be eliminated. Significantly, at a time when the cost of dealing with noxious waste from other industries was still being borne by the public purse, the anti-sludge legislation held the mining industry responsible for its own pollution and required gold miners to return clean water to river systems.

Digital Object ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.3197/096734014X14031694156448
Format: 26 p. (p. 385-410)
Language: en
Rights: Open Access. The accepted version of this article has been reproduced here according to the publishers policies.
Rights: This is a pre-copy-editing, author-produced PDF of an article accepted following peer review for publication in Environment and History, 20(3): 385-410, 2014. The definitive publisher-authenticated version is available online, http://dx.doi.org/10.3197/096734014X14031694156448 (Please note: access via this link may only be available with a subscription).
Rights: This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Permission to reproduce this article must be sought from the White Horse Press.
Type: journal article
Source: Environment and History, 20(3): 385-410