Geelong families face huge bills over contaminated kinetic sand crisis
Parents across Geelong are facing anxious wait times and huge bills to remove potentially contaminated kinetic sand products from their homes.
Geelong parents are reaching out to hazmat teams, unsure how to remove kinetic sand and sensory kits that could be contaminating their homes with asbestos.
Ocean Grove mum Jackie Landsdowne said she had no idea how to dispose of the sand, or what the real risk to her family was.
She said while parents had been told to double bag the sand her children had spread it all over the garage floor.
When she had reached out to professionals to have it remove safely, she was quoted more than $1000.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) issued a nationwide recall on Kadink Sand, Educational Colours – Rainbow Sand, Creatistics – Coloured Sand and Active Sandtub 14 piece Sand Castle Building Set after it was found to contain traces of chrysotile asbestos.
In response, more than 70 schools were temporarily closed in the ACT, with more closed in Tasmania, Queensland and South Australia as licensed asbestos removalists dressed in suits were spotted cleaning up and disposing of the products in schools.
Josh Buchan from Asbestos Removal Melbourne said since then, multiple calls had come in from Geelong parents who had the sand at home, and didn’t know how to dispose of it safely.
“We’re telling parents to contact hazmat teams involved,” he said.
“Several have been asking about getting testing, or just getting removal.
“We don’t do testing, we do removal, but as you can imagine the wait time for testing is pretty long at the moment so we’ve been disposing of the sand (without tests).
“The honest truth is we’re all just learning every day, some of the sand has come back positive, some has come back negative.”
The Department of Education confirmed about 300 state schools and more than 600 early childhood services may have been using the recalled products as of midday on Monday.
A spokesman said they did not need to be shut down as the health risk was low.
Jarrad Mee from North Geelong-based licensed asbestos removalists Kennedys Group said since the recall, they had been contacted by numerous Geelong parents asking questions, seeking advice and requesting quotes to remove the sand.
Mr Mee said they had also received calls from educational facilities and were they were preparing for a busy week in Geelong.
“We have issued a number of quotes for the removal of the sand, however due to the advice from the Department of Health released on the November 14 being to wait until further advice, we feel that a lot of people are still waiting on instructions for what to do,” he said. “We are also concerned that people may have thrown the asbestos containing sand into landfill bins, we would urge people not to do this as it creates potential health risks for personnel working at landfills and transfer stations.”
He said they were recommending anyone concerned about the sand, who wanted immediate action, should engage a licensed asbestos removalists.
“But only once clear and consistent advice from the relevant authorities is received,” he said.
A department spokesman said they were continuing to identify whether any further schools and early childhood services had purchased or used the recalled products.
He said schools had been provided with updated guidance, including safe-handling instructions.
The department did not confirm whether parents had been informed about their schools use of the products, and would not provide a list of schools in the Geelong region affected.
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Originally published as Geelong families face huge bills over contaminated kinetic sand crisis
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