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Crews move in: Supertex asbestos found in seven locations: experts

By LOUISE THROWER

13 March 2006 - Nearby residents had not been formally notified of the asbestos find or any impending clean-up action on Friday morning, nor was there any signage posted around the site to indicate that broken asbestos had been found. In addition, the rear fence had been broken in several places through demolition work and tree felling.

A SPECIALIST crew will begin cleaning up the former Supertex site this week after environmental consultants identified seven small areas containing asbestos.
Supertex's owner Peter Felemegas commissioned the report by Sydney-based Airsafe Occupational Health consultants last week under instruction from WorkCover.

The authority's inspectors issued a prohibition notice to Mr Felemegas on Wednesday after finding broken asbestos mixed with rubble on the site, in breach of regulations

WorkCover laws require the material to be kept in tact, separated from other materials, bagged, sealed and disposed of appropriately in a landfill licensed to accept asbestos.

Mr Felemegas submitted the hygienist's report to WorkCover on Friday, which he said identified seven small areas containing a "low-range asbestos" known as chrysotile. It also noted that some of the chrysotile was 'friable' or broken. In other areas, there was no evidence of asbestos.

Chrysotile is known as the least noxious of all types of asbestos but becomes a health issue if it is old, deteriorating and breaking up.

An Occupational, Health and Safety Amendment Regulation banned it, along with all other types of asbestos in December 2003, according to WorkCover's website.

The regulation also reduced the exposure standard from 0.5 to 0.1 fibres per millimetre of air.

WorkCover describes it as a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral that can cause lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis.

On Friday WorkCover would only say that a quantity of chrysotile was found at the site, despite the Goulburn Post's request for comments on levels and whether they posed a significant public health risk.

"WorkCover has issued an Improvement Notice to the (site owner) to engage a WorkCover licensed asbestos removalist to remove the asbestos from the site," a spokesperson said.

"The notice also directs the developer to properly secure the site, which shows signs of possible entry by trespassers."

Mr Felemegas will engage an asbestos removal company with a class one licence to remove the material.

He said the company carrying out the demolition last week did not hold this class of licence, although he maintained that company was certified to do the original work.

"Where the asbestos has been mixed up with rubble, it will all be dumped (at the Goulburn Waste depot in a dedicated area) as asbestos," he said.

"I hope to start the clean-up on Monday (today) and if all goes according to plan, demolition can re-commence later in the week," Mr Felemegas said.

The hygienist also recommended that all timber on site had to be cleaned. Asked whether members of the community who had picked up building materials and firewood should be concerned, Mr Felemegas said most of the firewood had been taken to the waste depot, while other timber had been picked up much earlier in the piece.

"We have agreed to close the site down, work through the issues and appoint someone with the right licence to clear the balance of the timber and remove the fibro," he said.

Mr Felemegas said while WorkCover inspectors found broken asbestos on the site, he had not been breached for taking asbestos mixed with rubble to the waste depot and denied that this had been done.