A quarry in Newman, Western Australia, has been re-opened following recent tests which have dispelled last week’s asbestos panic.

The Holcim-owned quarry in Western Australia’s Pilbara was shut down last week after asbestos was discovered at two of its mine sites.

The voluntary closure of the site had a major impact on local construction and development, as the company’s concrete plant provided concrete to businesses across the whole region.

The asbestos discovery also had flow-on effects on mining giants Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, causing both to instigate internal investigations of asbestos contamination.

Rio Tinto confirmed the existence of brown asbestos at its West Angeles mine site, while BHP Billiton isolated its Jimblebar mine in order to conduct asbestos testing.

However all three companies, along with local construction businesses, breathed a sigh of relief last week when the Department of Mines and Petroleum concluded testing and announced that airborne concentrations of asbestos at all sites are well below legal limits.

Asbestos related diseases, such as mesothelioma and asbestosis, have been a major problem in West Australia for many years. Western Australia once mined blue asbestos at Wittenoom. Many workers who worked at this blue asbestos mine developed asbestos conditions like pleural mesothelioma and peritoneal mesothelioma. There have been many Australian asbestos compensation cases as a result of such asbestos exposure. Asbestos compensation claims have been brought not just in West Australia in respect to this Western Australian exposure to blue asbestos, but also in other states including in Victoria and New South Wales. Asbestos litigation in Australia occurs in most states.

There are certain Australian states that have legislation assisting those who have asbestos conditions. For example, asbestos compensation in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, including mesothelioma compensation in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, are assisted by state legislation.

Australian unions are pushing for the creation of a National Asbestos Authority which will work to remove asbestos from homes and commercial and public buildings. Through the removal of asbestos, this authority will help protect people from harmful health risks that come from exposure to asbestos including the cancer mesothelioma.

Paul Bastian, the national secretary of The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, has fought against asbestos for a long time and is strongly pushing for this national authority to be established. He recognises that the huge amount of deaths and diseases that have been caused by asbestos exposure and the legal acknowledgement of these should be enough to show that something must be done to stop it.

Australian asbestos compensation claims, such as mesothelioma law claims, have been run in Australian Courts for many years. Various states, such as New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria and West Australia have introduced specific laws to assist those suffering asbestos conditions claim asbestos compensation.

The Union believes what needs to be created to protect people from the dangers of asbestos is a federally funded authority. This authority will find asbestos, educate and raise awareness in the community as to which private homes, businesses and public buildings contain asbestos and then remove the dangerous mineral.

The federal government is being called on to make asbestos removal an extremely important national issue. This review is believed to be handed to the government within days and will probably recommend some kind of national authority. This authority will help to reduce the risk of asbestos related diseases and also reduce the number of people that will be at risk of contracting the cancer mesothelioma.

Sunshine residents are putting pressure on the Brimbank Council in Victoria in regards to what should be done with land near the Kororoit Creek. Local residents are insisting that the land be gifted to them instead of rezoned.

This request comes after an environmental audit report revealed that the parcel of land on Fraser Street right next to the Creek contained asbestos. The report also showed that the asbestos is not a health risk to people who use the area as long as thick grass continued to cover the land.

Last year Melbourne Water applied to the council to have this 3034sq block at 113 Fraser St rezoned. Proposing to turn the current public park and recreation zone into Residential 1 which will allow it to be sold to developers.

The discovery of asbestos at this site has caused fear in local residents as they are concerned about the risk of asbestos exposure if Melbourne Water is permitted to develop the land. Residents are insisting that land be gifted to them and kept as open space for families who live in the area.

Despite these fears Melbourne Water are still working with the council to try and get their proposal on public exhibition. They have said that the land is safe for development and they have plans in place to manage the asbestos.

The fear of local residents is not surprising as exposure to asbestos is a health risk and a known cause of asbestos related diseases including the cancer mesothelioma, asbestosis and asbestos related pleural disease. Australian asbestos related compensation claims, such as mesothelioma compensation claims, have been made in circumstances where the individual who developed the asbestos related condition was exposed to low levels of asbestos. Asbestos compensation claims in Victoria are determined by a Jury.

Work has been stopped for the second time at the high-rise development site at Barangaroo in Sydney due to fears of asbestos.

A significant amount of crumbled asbestos that had been run over by heavy trucks and machinery was discovered by the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) at the site on Monday 25 June 2012.

After this discovery, around 40 people who were digging at the southern part of the site where the asbestos was found walked off the job.

Work at this part of the NSW site is not set to resume and an update on the situation will be delivered to all staff in a meeting on Tuesday.

Earlier this year in April, the CFMEU said that the area was contaminated with a variety of harmful chemicals including asbestos. This asbestos fear saw 150 workers removed from the Sydney construction site.

Small amounts of expsoure to asbestos can result in a person developing an asbestos related disease such as mesothelioma. Thus it is important to protect such workers from asbestos to elimiate the risk of mesothelioma.