LAKE Macquarie council has passed on an $11,000 grant application for a program designed to help Boolaroo residents grow vegetables safely in their yards. The Macquarie University-developed program, called VegeSafe, involves testing soil samples for lead. It was developed after the university conducted a study in 2014 that found harmful levels of lead and black slag still blanketed the city after Boolaroo's Pasminco Smelter closed in 2003. The grant application now lies with the NSW Environment Protection Authority's Lead Expert Working Group, which was established to address the contamination.