EPA confirms asbestos in Old Red Brick Co Beverley stockpiles

Living alongside towers of demolition waste felt like enough to worry about but now neighbours and nearby businesses have got frightening news about the stockpiles.

Testing by the Environment Protection Authority has confirmed residents’ fears of asbestos in unauthorised stockpiles of construction and demolition waste at Beverley.

Belington Pty Ltd, trading as Old Red Brick Company, had repeatedly told the EPA there was no asbestos in the stockpiles of bricks, concrete and masonry.

On Monday, the EPA sent an environmental consultant to inspect the site and take samples.

Laboratory analysis revealed 11 of the 19 samples of broken cement fibre material “contained non-friable or bonded asbestos … made from Chrysotile fibres, commonly known as white asbestos”.

EPA director operations Andrew Pruszinski said the EPA had responded to community concerns about dust and directed the company to apply sealant to two stockpiles by Wednesday afternoon. Independent air monitoring began on Tuesday.

“Residents and businesses in the area have been letterboxed today with this information, and we will be holding a community information session at Flinders Park Community Hall on Friday evening for people who want to speak to specialist staff from the EPA, SA Health, SafeWork SA and the City of Charles Sturt,” he said.

MP Joe Szakacs with Beverley residents Kath Carroll, Michelle, Anthony Theo and Darren Pinnington outside the Red Brick Co works. Picture: Brenton Edwards

SA Health deputy chief public health officer Dr Chris Lease said exposure to high levels of dust “could aggravate conditions such as asthma, emphysema, bronchitis and other respiratory diseases”.

“Asbestos exposures from dust escaping from the Old Red Brick Company site are unlikely to result in increased asbestos-related illness in the community,” he said.

Beverley resident Michelle said the situation was outrageous.

“We have been told that this asbestos is non-friable cement sheeting and that it’s “unlikely” to cause health issues,” she said.

“However the company has been using heavy industrial machinery to crush the waste. Wouldn’t this mean that asbestos is released into the dust that is polluting our homes?”

Labor MP Joe Szakacs, who organised the first meeting for residents to meet with EPA officers and the council on December 6, said the company could not be trusted and should be shut down.

“They have an appalling record and I am disgusted that the EPA has been more interested in negotiating than enforcing,” he said.

“The knowledge that residents and schools have potentially been exposed to asbestos since mid 2021, and that the EPA have failed to test the illegal stockpile until two days ago, is a breathtaking failure of their duty to protect the public.”

While the company is licensed to receive building waste at 167-169 and 171 William St, Beverley, it has also been operating an adjacent unlicensed site at Lot 2021 McLean St, Beverley, since about February last year.

In September, an Environment Protection Order was issued to cease receiving, processing and stockpiling waste, and to remove the stockpile by November 30.

The company said it was complying with the order but seeking an extension to the timeframe through the court.

A spokesman said the discovery of a “very small amount” of asbestos was “unexpected”.

“Building waste from properties that contained asbestos products is received at the site only after certification of asbestos removal by a consultant that is a licensed asbestos assessor,” he said.

“A recent inspection of the stockpiled materials onsite by a licensed asbestos assessor did not identify any asbestos containing materials.”