By Ben Cameron
Works to identify the amount of asbestos dumped in Brimbank Park will begin early next month.
An Aboriginal Victoria permit for Parks Victoria to remove asbestos, found in December last year on both side of the Taylors Creek access trail, was approved on September 15; one day after the issue was raised in state parliament by Colleen Hartland following a tip from the Star Weekly.
Between three and five hectares of land between Green Gully Road and Kulin Wetlands has been fenced off since February after scattered fragments were identified as “lower risk” broken asbestos cement sheeting.
Works to remove the asbestos had been stalled due to the indigenous significance of the park.
Parks Victoria Acting District Manager David Collins could not offer a time frame on when the works would be completed.
He said a qualified contaminated land assessment contractor had been hired to undertake “further investigations… (to) determine the extent of the asbestos and also the best method of cleanup for the site”.
“The affected area of the park is cordoned off and will remain so until the clean-up is completed,” he said.
“Parks Victoria will be updating local residents once these investigations are complete.
“The site was closed for public safety and the affected section of the park is having air monitoring conducted by an independent asbestos hygiene company on a weekly basis.
“So far, the monitoring has shown no airborne fibre readings. This means that the site presents a very low risk but remains closed as a precaution.
“The asbestos found has been identified as fragments of asbestos cement sheeting which is non-friable and classified as a lower risk material.”
