A team of Camooweal and Mount Isa workers has joined forces with local Aboriginal traditional owners to clean up an important environmental site near Camooweal.
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The site, known by locals as Tar Drum Cave, is one of Camooweal’s largest sinkholes.
It is a naturally-occurring phenomenon where the landscape’s dolomite rock has been dissolved over millions of years by percolating groundwater, creating underground caves whose roofs have collapsed.
The sinkholes act as entry points for overland flow waters to run underground, feeding the great subartesian aquifers of the Barkly Tableland.
During the Second World War, the US Army took advantage of Tar Drum Cave’s proximity to the Barkly Highway – dumping over 500 old tar drums and other rubbish into the cave entrance while upgrading the road as part of the war effort.
For the 70 years, passers-by added to the waste tip, while chemicals slowly leaked into the fragile cave ecosystem, endangering underground water systems.
Colin Saltmere, a senior Indjalandji-Dhidhanu native title holder for the area said it was a mess.
“The Camooweal cave system is extremely important to our people and to all Camooweal residents and the ongoing pollution was damaging it,” Mr Saltmere said. “We needed to do something about it.”
The Indjalandji-Dhidhanu successfully applied to the Queensland government for a $99,638 Everyone’s Environment Grant to remove the rubbish and restore the cave.
For two weeks, workers from Dugalunji Aboriginal Corporation and Myuma Pty Ltd – two Indjalandji-Dhidhanu not-for- profit businesses – teamed up with operators from Steelcon Cava in Mount Isa, to extract the rubbish including the tar drums, dumped whitegoods and old clothing.
Leaseholder Pic Willetts and Mount Isa Council assisted the project and the Department of Environment Heritage Protection oversaw it. Tanya Willis, manager of Dugalunji’s heritage team said it was immensely satisfying to see this project completed.
“The natural and cultural values of sites like Tar Drum Cave can support our region’s growth by providing us with clean groundwater and opportunities for eco-tourism and biodiscovery,” Ms Willis said.
“They’re important assets to manage for the benefit of future generations.”