Cobargo residents’ fury at delay in clean-up of asbestos after fires
Furious Cobargo residents have slammed delays in the post-bushfires clean-up, with piles of deadly asbestos still lying on the main street five months after the blaze ripped through the town.
NSW
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Piles of deadly asbestos have been lying on the main street of Cobargo for almost five months since bushfires ravaged the south coast town.
The delay in disposing of the waste – dumped near multiple stores – has sparked anger among residents. One woman told The Saturday Telegraph: “I can't believe it's still sitting there.”
New Bega Valley Shire Mayor Sharon Tapscott said state government-appointed contractor Laing O’Rourke began removing the asbestos two days ago, but many fear they have already been exposed to fibres in the months after the fires.
The asbestos from Cobargo will be taken south to a waste facility in nearby Wolumla. There it will be put into a special dedicated waste cell which has approval through the EPA.
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Kathryn Doolin, who runs furniture store Ground Lounge on the main street, said the asbestos was impacting the mental health of residents.
“They haven't started anything … everybody is confused,” she said.
“It is not good enough – full stop. Action can be taken on COVID-19, but not (on) our exposure of asbestos?”
Ms Doolin said she was worried strong winds had whipped up the substance two weeks ago.
“Class ‘A’ Asbestos is incredibly deadly, our mental health is suffering,” she said.
“It’s micro particles – fire hits it and it’s even smaller micro particles. In 20, 30, 40 years from now, how much of the town will have asbestosis?
“The risk is just enormous.”
Testing found almost half of destroyed properties across NSW were contaminated with asbestos after the bushfires, and authorities likened finding where to dump the waste to doing a jigsaw puzzle.
The state government clean-up has already removed about 60,000 tonnes of waste from homes and businesses across bushfire-affected NSW.
Of this, about 30,000 tonnes was asbestos that has been taken to licensed landfill facilities.
A Resilience NSW spokesman said clean-up work had started in Cobargo and safety measures such as exclusion zones and spraying the asbestos had been put in place.
“Bushfire clean-up work has commenced in the main street of Cobargo and will continue in coming weeks – this work includes the safe removal and disposal of dangerous substances, including asbestos,’ he said.
“The work required to clean-up Main St is complex, given the presence of asbestos and heritage buildings, and has required careful planning and consultation with land owners, heritage experts and council to ensure the safety of both workers and Cobargo residents,” the spokesman said.
“A number of actions have been taken since the bushfires to prevent exposure to dangerous substances such as asbestos.
“These actions included establishing exclusion zones around affected properties in Main Street, securing any potentially dangerous substances with PVA spray to prevent any particles from becoming airborne and air quality monitoring in six locations, with results showing no airborne fibres.”