Sludge

The environmental impact of gold mining in nineteenth-century Victoria is starkly revealed, highlighting how mining waste, known as 'sludge', devastated the land and waterways. This book uncovers the catastrophic effects on agriculture, with sludge overwhelming grapevines and creating dangerous sludge lakes that harmed children and animals. It narrates the struggle against this pollution, illustrating how these events contributed to the emergence of the modern environmental movement, exposing a hidden chapter of Victoria's mining history.