Heavy rain last week pushed the already critically full Gold Ridge dam to overflow uncontrollably for the first time in more than 20 years.
Eight-thousand people live downstream from what was, until two years ago, the country’s largest mining operation.
The shutdown Gold Ridge mine was sold last year by an Australian company to local mine site landowners for $100.
'We are panicking'
Scientists and villagers fear an environmental disaster is looming.
“We are panicking, honestly we are panicking, we don't know what is happening. Woman, pikinini, everyone of us (is) upset,” downstream community leader John Keara told SBS World News.
“The government didn't do anything for us. They ignore it, they ignore us. Now we become victims already.”
Tens of millions of litres of water escaped from the dam, that contains arsenic and cyanide and heavy metals in its sediment.
“At the moment there’s really no way to stop the spill way. The spillway was put in to relieve pressure and reduce the risk (of a dam collapse),” said Dr Gavin Mudd, an environmental engineer from Monash University.
“That's the way it's supposed to work but the issue though is it's not the end scenario you want, untreated tailings water getting out into the environment.
“There is an arsenic issue in the water with processing ore, it comes from the gold ore. Other heavy metals include selenium, mercury is often a very important one, and range of other heavy metals like copper and zinc.
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