There have been three asbestos discoveries at Sydney’s Barangaroo development site since April last year. The latest discovery took place on 28 February 2013 when twenty-three fragments of the toxic material were found in ten minutes.
The concerns from this discovery have led to a NSW asbestos group calling for a public walkway within in the site to be shut.
While there are still concerns over the safety of this site, The Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has confirmed there is no risk to the public’s health. The EPA have put up air monitors and collected soil samples and have confirmed that after monitoring the site for a long period of time they have never found any asbestos fibres. The EPA has conducted a thorough risk analysis at the Barangaroo site which is definitely necessary when dealing with asbestos in Australia as asbestos related illnesses in Australia are such a major concern, especially the cancer mesothelioma.
Unfortunately, there have been many mesothelioma cases in Australia following exposure to relatively low levels of asbestos exposure.
