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Family of asbestos victim slams ‘disgusting’ Castle Hill High School revelations

The family of a well-loved Sydney teacher who died last year has spoken out at “disgusting” revelations about his former school.

Sydney school asbestos exposure concerns

EXCLUSIVE

A former teacher at a Sydney high school embroiled in an asbestos scandal died last year after battling mesothelioma, a type of cancer almost always caused by exposure to the deadly building material.

Earle Grant Morris had been a long-time casual teacher at Castle Hill High School. He died on April 21, 2021 at the age of 83, after battling the terminal illness for two years.

Speaking to news.com.au, his daughter Dorelle Ettingshausen, 53, said while she believed her father’s illness was caused by asbestos exposure at other NSW schools decades earlier, she feared for the current staff and students.

“I wouldn’t say it came from Castle Hill because it takes such a long time,” she said.

It usually takes between 20 and 60 years after exposure to asbestos for a person to develop mesothelioma.

“These teachers at Castle Hill that have been there 20 years, they won’t see the effects until after. They’re going to have to wait until they’re old.”

Castle Hill High School posted an obituary for Mr Morris on Facebook in May last year.

“Earle Morris was a casual teaching member of the TAS [technological and applied studies] faculty at Castle Hill High School for many years,” the school wrote.

“He had been head teacher at Fairvale High and James Ruse Agricultural High School before he retired. He died recently, aged 83. A true gentleman. May he rest in peace.”

Ms Ettingshausen said her father, who worked in the railways before becoming a teacher in the 1960s, was “well-loved” by students and colleagues.

“He was just a nice, kind man,” she said. “He was a very generous person.”

Former Castle Hill High School teacher Earle Grant Morris. Picture: Facebook
Former Castle Hill High School teacher Earle Grant Morris. Picture: Facebook

Mr Morris retired when he turned 65 but continued on as a full-time casual teacher at James Ruse and other schools.

“Castle Hill was a school he liked going to – the temperament of the kids,” Ms Ettingshausen said.

Even after his mesothelioma diagnosis, her father had to be pushed to go through the state’s Dust Diseases Care scheme which provides support for people suffering diseases from dust exposure.

“He said, ‘This is what life’s dealt me,’” she said.

“He never played the blame game, he was very much not like myself. Because there is blame. But he was old-school. It was a different generation – they suffered a lot more.”

As news.com.au revealed last week, Castle Hill High School is facing a major investigation into whether thousands of students and teachers were potentially exposed to asbestos for years, even after a sample of the dust had come back positive.

The positive test result from 2016 only resurfaced this April, two years after the NSW Department of Education announced asbestos had been discovered in the roof cavity during routine inspection.

But teachers said they had raised concerns for “years” about dust falling from the ceilings onto them, going as far as to “sweep it up into a zip-lock bag” themselves and hand it to the school.

“People were sweeping up dust from that staffroom, the library and other staffrooms and taking it to the [school] asking for it to be tested for years,” one teacher told news.com.au.

“That sounds absurd, and it is. People were just like, ‘When are they going to test this fricking dust? More of it fell on us today.’”

Ms Ettingshausen described the revelation as “disgusting”.

She said her father had worked at numerous schools with asbestos and always made sure to collect documentation.

“My dad had affidavits and stuff, he had stat decs signed about dust falling from the roof,” she said. “He was a pretty smart bloke, he was aware complications may happen down the road. We weren’t aware of Castle Hill, of course. The fact is they’ve [the staff] got to have documentation.”

The 2016 asbestos test result.
The 2016 asbestos test result.

One sample, taken from the Human Society and its Environment (HSIE) staffroom in 2016, returned a positive test for both chrysotile (white asbestos) and amosite (brown asbestos – considered one of the most hazardous types) but staff were told the test had come back “all clear”.

Although the report refers to asbestos, it does not say whether the material posed an exposure risk.

The certificate of analysis from Wollongong-based lab Clearsafe Environmental Solutions was provided to the school on July 29, 2016.

Minutes from the school’s WHS committee meeting dated August 1, 2016, read, “Ceiling in B5/HSIE staffroom – bits falling where new lights installed – samples sent for analysis. All clear in B block, still checking other areas in the school.”

SafeWork NSW and the Education Department’s Professional and Ethical Standards (PES) Directorate are investigating the circumstances surrounding the test.

Principal Georgie Fleming informed the school’s 150 staff in April that the department had “recently been made aware” of the 2016 document.

The email was recovered by PES investigators who reconstructed staff inboxes after being tipped off to the existence of the test in interviews with several complainants, news.com.au understands.

PES had launched an investigation in 2020 after multiple teachers complained to the department, saying they had raised concerns of falling dust for years before the discovery of asbestos was announced.

Parents and teachers also took their concerns to Castle Hill MP Ray Williams, who issued a public statement last Tuesday demanding answers from the department.

Castle Hill MP Ray Williams. Picture: Damian Shaw
Castle Hill MP Ray Williams. Picture: Damian Shaw

“The teachers and parents believe the health of students, teachers and staff of Castle Hill High School has been severely compromised following years of exposure to asbestos,” Mr Williams said.

“The teachers and parents of CHHS have made numerous complaints regarding asbestos to the Department of Education over several years which still remain unanswered. As the Member for Castle Hill, I have a responsibility to ensure the safety of my community.”

The Education Department has assured parents and teachers that remediation work at the school has been completed, with air monitoring carried out in 2020 and 2021.

“The department is confident there are no current asbestos issues at the school,” a spokeswoman said last week.

A SafeWork NSW spokeswoman also said inspectors had visited the school on “numerous occasions” since 2020 and was “confident there are no current asbestos issues at the school”.

“SafeWork NSW is actively investigating the matter and further comment is not available at this time,” she said.

NSW One Nation leader Mark Latham, who chairs an education committee in the Legislative Council, told news.com.au he intended to look into the issue.

“I’m very concerned, as anyone would be,” he said.

“The education committee I chair is currently doing an inquiry into school infrastructure. I’ll be talking to the other committee members about a special day to examine what’s gone on at Castle Hill High School, to get witnesses under oath.”

On Wednesday, Mr Latham sought to pass a motion under Standing Order 52 (SO52) requiring the Education Department to produce documents, but accused NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell of intentionally delaying until the Upper House adjourned at 10pm.

He will table the motion again when the House sits in two weeks’ time.

Ms Mitchell denied she had sought to delay the process.

“The investigations are ongoing,” she told news.com.au in a statement on Thursday.

“As I indicated in the chamber during my initial comments on this matter, the NSW government will not be opposing the motion calling for documents relating to asbestos at Castle Hill High School. When this motion was introduced, there was less than one minute left for debate on this sitting day before the hard adjournment of the House at 10pm. As Minister, I am well aware of the extremely serious nature of this issue and as such there are matters that I wish to put on the record as part of this debate.”

She added, “Other members of the House may also wish to contribute to this debate, and should be afforded the opportunity to do so as part of the proceedings of the House.”

frank.chung@news.com.au

Originally published as Family of asbestos victim slams ‘disgusting’ Castle Hill High School revelations

Original URL: https://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/news/national/family-of-asbestos-victim-slams-disgusting-castle-hill-high-school-revelations/news-story/07276cc68f7d73ebf13e265c9a375d32