Over Christmas, work is set to begin to remove asbestos from some of Sydney’s small underground power stations. Ausgrid has confirmed that the procedure will consist of removing asbestos from 10 small electricity substations around Sydney CBD including ones at Circular Quay and Hyde Park.

This course of action comes after the Electrical Trades Union (ETU) last month revealed documents which suggested that 49 cases of asbestos related diseases including mesothelioma and asbestosis over the past 22 years were connected to the company. ETU confirmed that asbestos was present in underground electricity substations and meter boards in Sydney and called on Ausgrid to undertake an inspection and remove all asbestos.

The removal and remediation of the asbestos will take place during the night to reduce the amount of disturbance to the public and only a small amount of people are expected to be run into electricity problems.

The presence of asbestos is due to asbestos being a regularly used material before the 1980s in the power industry. This resulted in many people being exposed to asbestos and contracting asbestos related illnesses including asbestosis and mesothelioma. Mesothelioma in Australia is expected to peak within the next decade. In order to assist Australians suffering asbestos conditions, various Australian states have introduced legislation which helps such persons pursue asbestos compensation claims in Australia, including both asbestosis compensation in Australia and mesothelioma compensation in Australia.

Gosford Council in NSW has spoke out to the community warning homeowners to make sure they check carefully for asbestos in their homes before undertaking renovations. Gosford Council has joined the Asbestos Diseases Research Institute of Australia to participate in Asbestos Awareness Week to help reduce the number of home renovators being diagnosed with asbestos related diseases such as mesothelioma and asbestosis.

Gosford Mayor, Lawrie McKinna, spoke about the serious problem of asbestos, highlighting that Australia has one of the highest rates of asbestos diseases in the world and the number of people affected by mesothelioma is only going to rise.

McKinna has stressed that people should take the dangers of asbestos seriously when renovating or maintaining their homes or they will be putting themselves and their family at risk.

As part of an asbestos awareness campaign in Gosford, a purpose-build asbestos education truck was set up on Wednesday in Gosford’s Kibble Park. Once the Asbestos Awareness week comes to an end, the truck will be taken around the state by The Asbestos Diseases Research Institute to further educate people on the dangers of asbestos.

Asbestos diseases have claimed the lives of many Australians, especially the asbestos cancer mesothelioma, due to Australia being such a heavy user of the deadly material in the past. As a result, many Australian states including NSW, South Australia and Victoria have introduced legislation that assists individuals pursuing an asbestos compensation claim including both asbestosis compensation and mesothelioma compensation claims.

It was reported earlier this month that eight power substations on the Central Coast contain hazardous levels of asbestos. These claims have been refuted by electricity distributor Ausgrid. The report identified power stations in NSW containing exposed asbestos and described them as being in a “poor” condition.

Airborne asbestos fibres, when inhaled, can lead to asbestos-related conditions such as mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis. Due to the latency period between exposure to asbestos and contraction of an asbestos-related condition, the hazard can be difficult to identify.

The information used by the New South Wales Electrical Trades Union was apparently sourced from Ausgrid’s own report on NSW substations on the central Coast.

Trevor Armstrong, CEO of Ausgrid, claims that the information used in the report identifying the asbestos danger was published over ten years ago. Says Armstrong, “Ausgrid took the safe steps needed to clean any asbestos material that was deemed a health risk”.

He further dismisses asbestos claims saying, “The material published in media reports was from 2002. Over the past 12 months independent hygienist reports have been undertaken showing the substations are safe.”.

Armstrong pointed to two examples used in the report, Wyong and Charmhaven, which were constructed in 2001 without asbestos. Subsequent audits in 2009 and 2012 confirmed that there was no asbestos present.

The six other substations were inspected for friable asbestos by an independent professional hygienist within the last 12 months. No friable asbestos was found in any of the eight identified substations in NSW.

One station however did have a broken fibro roof, potentially exposing workers to asbestos. However the asbestos has been removed. “Ausgrid has been working for more than 10 years to identify the areas where asbestos was present … and to safely remove it,” says Armstrong.

Mesothelioma compensation is available in NSW, Victoria and South Australia under legislation allowing those suffering from asbestos-related conditions to pursue an asbestos compensation claim. Power station workers in the past have made such claims.

Anti-asbestos campaigner Larry Stoffman is travelling around Australia as part of asbestos awareness week thanking unions for their help and encouraging them not to stop fighting the battle against asbestos. He spoke out at the Unions NSW forum in Sydney saying that unless the asbestos industry is shut down worldwide, masses of workers will become victims of asbestos related diseases such as asbestosis and mesothelioma.

Unions NSW used the forum as a chance to encourage the Australian government to place pressure on Canada to include asbestos in the Rotterdam Convention as they are the only G8 country who has objected to do so. Mr Stoffman is aiming to encourage Australia and Canada to financially assist developing regions to support them becoming asbestos free and help them deal with the health consequences that come from asbestos use.

The shutting down of the asbestos industry worldwide would contribute to creating an asbestos free Australia. This would be an important step given the asbestos cancer mesothelioma is expected to peak within the next decade. Luckily legislation is in place in Australian states, including South Australia and Victoria, to assist those individuals with an asbestos compensation claim, including asbestosis compensation and mesothelioma compensation in Australia.