Residents whose homes and gardens were “coated” with construction dust from an Alphington building site are horrified they have only just found out about the discovery of asbestos there months ago.
The former Amcor Paper Mill on the Chandler Highway is being redeveloped and thousands of houses being built for almost 5000 residents.
On Monday, Yarra Council’s manager of city strategy emailed a resident working group to say that the demolition of a large chimney had been halted last October after asbestos was discovered.
Although the council said no risk has been posed to the workers or the community – as the asbestos was identified before it was disturbed – residents are angry they were not informed sooner.
Natasha Biltoft said she first heard about the asbestos through the neighbourhood grapevine this week.
“I am horrified that potentially we’ve been exposed to [asbestos]. I can’t believe that nobody bothered to tell us about it,” she said.
Ms Biltoft lives in a house on the Chandler Highway with her two young children and said dust from the site had peppered the family’s washing line, edible plants and trampoline.
“Should I be letting my kids play outside? What is the risk? We have no idea.”
The asbestos discovery came as a surprise to the council which had been advised in the same month that initial investigations did not detect any. It is understood that the material – which can cause a range of health problems including Mesothelioma if breathed in – was discovered in the pipework after the demolition had begun.
But Yarra mayor Phillip Vlahogiannis said that the council always expected there could be some contamination of the site, as asbestos was a common building material used in buildings of a similar age to the paper mill.
He said the community had been informed of the need for remediation “from the very outset”, with the developer required to follow a remediation action plan overseen by an environmental auditor.
“This specific incidence of asbestos came to light last October and, as a result, work on that particular location was suspended. In the meantime, the relevant players [including the developer and WorkSafe] have determined the best way to deal with it,” Cr Vlahogiannis said.
However, Yarra councillor Stephen Jolly believes residents should have been told about the find months earlier, when the council was informed by the project’s developers, Alpha Partners and Glenvill Homes, of the issue.
“They haven’t told anyone until last week,” he said. “Councillors only got wind of it last week.”
Cr Jolly works in construction and has previously been a health and safety representative for a construction union. He said the regularity with which asbestos was found on former industrial sites meant residents who lived nearby needed to be kept informed.
“We discover it every day, and people deal with it. But for Yarra Council, apparently, they have got the transparency of Kim Il-sung.”
The West Alphington Residents group are calling for the chimney and a boiler house also on the site to be removed.
“Those buildings have asbestos right through them and in all the machinery that was in them and the partial demolition has just stirred it all up and made it far more dangerous than it was while intact,” said committee member Harold Cole.
Anyone who has concerns or questions about the remediation of the site is asked to contact Yarra council.
