Following the alarming discovery of two tones of asbestos sheeting metres from two inner Sydney child care centres, environmental watchdogs have been put on alert.

On Friday night, Fire and Rescue NSW were called into Wattle Lane, Ultimo. Located nearby were the KU Wattle Lane Children’s Centre and the Magic Pudding Centre on Mckee Street.

A spokesman from Fire and Rescue NSW commented that the asbestos material may have been dumped.

Asbestos fibres, when inhaled, can lead to asbestos-related conditions such as mesothelioma, asbestos related pleural disease and asbestosis. In order to prevent the inhalation of asbestos fibres, the asbestos sheeting was covered with black plastic and then sand.

A spokeswoman from the Environmental Protection Agency said that advice was provided to the City of Sydney Council on how to conduct a safe asbestos clean-up.

The city’s waste management depot is located about two blocks away from the dumping site.

The area is safe, but the public will not be allowed to access the lane while the asbestos removal process is underway.

Said a City of Sydney spokesman, “NSW police have cordoned off Wattle Lane between MacArthur Street and Mary Ann Street in Ultimo following the discovery of illegally dumped asbestos last night.”

It remains unclear who is responsible for the illegal asbestos dumping.

New South Wales has a high incidence of asbestos related conditions. Mesothelioma in New South Wales is unfortunately at a high level. So much so, asbestos claims in NSW are regularly pursued for those in New South Wales suffering asbestos conditions.

$6 million in compensation has been awarded to seventeen victims of asbestos in Tasmania under the new Asbestos Disease Compensation Scheme which was implemented last year.

Of these seventeen victims, twelve were found to be suffering from fatal asbestos related diseases including mesothelioma and lung cancer. While the other five were found to have been suffering mainly from asbestosis.

These 17 asbestos victims were exposed to asbestos whilst working in industries such as cement, mechanics, paper manufacturers and roofing.

While this scheme is in place to compensate victims of asbestos, they may still chose to pursue an asbestos compensation claim through common law instead.

Legislation in other Australian states such as NSW, Victoria and South Australia also assist victims of asbestos with pursuing an asbestos compensation claim including both mesothelioma compensation and asbestosis compensation.

These legal avenues are extremely important as asbestos related diseases are a major health concern for Australia as we have one of the highest rates of asbestos related illnesses in the world.

Telstra has stopped a contractor from working on a site for the National Broadband Network after asbestos-contaminated concrete was found scattered near a new Telstra pit in a front yard in Mandurah in Western Australia.

The asbestos contaminated concrete was discovered in France Street and there are fears that these fragments maybe disturbed when people mow their lawns and could then pose a serious health risk to the community. This could be the case as even minimal exposure to asbestos can lead to individuals contracting asbestos related diseases such as mesothelioma.

Telstra’s chief operations officer has spoke out saying that when the contractor had finished remediation of the pit in France Street in mid October, there was no concrete present like the kind that has been found now. The area has now been barricaded and Telstra is in the process of clearing the site by following asbestos handling procedures.

Mundurah asbestos removalist Dave Hargreaves has said that it is extremely important to be vigilant in removing asbestos as the fibre that causes serious health problems is microscopic. Proper asbestos removal is extremely important within Australia as the fatal cancer mesothelioma is expected to rise.

A man has received a $1,200 fine after he failed to reveal to police the identity of the person driving a ute that was responsible for dumping a trailer of asbestos in the driveway of a Wollongong City Councilor.

Despite the car being registered in the man’s grandmother’s name and telling police many other people drive the ute, Brett Blackwell was found to be responsible for the ute that was captured dumping the asbestos on CCTV footage.

Magistrate Les Mabbutt found that because Blackwell was responsible for the vehicle, he had a duty to reveal to police who was driving the ute at the time the asbestos was dumped and failing to do was the reason the fine was issued.
These kinds of disciplinary actions are extremely important when it comes to asbestos as even minimal exposure to asbestos can result in a person contracting an asbestos related illness such as mesothelioma.

Asbestos related diseases are a major health concern for Australia as Australia has one of the highest rates of asbestos related illnesses in the world. The most troubling of these is the cancer mesothelioma which has already claimed the lives of so many Australians and the number of new cases is only expected to rise.

For people in Australian suffering asbestos conditions, multiple states such as South Australia and Victoria have implemented specific legislation to assist sufferers of asbestos conditions to pursue asbestos compensation.