However, many members of the community may not realise they are eligible to make a victim impact statement.

As well as those who have suffered physically from the effects of lead pollution, such as parents of children with high lead levels, many Esperance residents may have also suffered mentally or financially.

Businesses that have lost money due to lead pollution, and potentially home-owners whose properties have been devalued due to the pollution are also eligible to make a statement.

Local mother and chairperson of Parents of Esperance Active for Children’s Health (PEACH), Mandy Waters, urged any Esperance residents who were victims of lead pollution to file a victim impact statement.

“This is a great opportunity for the community to get some closure from the incident,” Ms Waters said.

“Everyone in Esperance has been affected by lead pollution in some way, no matter how small.

Ms Waters said tourism businesses are an area that have definitely suffered.

“If you have suffered a financial loss somehow, you should be making a statement.

“Look at the local seafood suppliers – they had to go out of their way to prove their seafood wasn’t contaminated with lead.

“Many families spent money having their houses cleaned, putting new soil in their gardens, or have lost time from their businesses campaigning against the issue,” Ms Water said.

Ms Waters’ three-year-old son, Kael, was found to have elevated lead levels in 2007; on top of this, Ms Waters has moved house three times in the last three years, eventually moving to Myrup to escape the lead.

She has also devoted more than two years of her life campaigning against the pollution.

“Financially, my business suffered, because I wasn’t able to put as much time into it, I had to move house, and emotionally, my marriage suffered due to the stress of it all.”