Asbestos records not kept
 Baw Baw News   By // 15:22, Wednesday 31 July 2013

baw baw generic the warragul citizen by william kulich

RECORDS of the locations of illegal roadside asbestos dumps in the Baw Baw Shire were not kept until a new waste contract came into place late last year.

A Baw Baw Shire spokesperson told The Warragul Citizen the council began keeping records in October last year when it entered a new waste contract.

Baw Baw CEO Helen Anstis confirmed the unavailability of records has made it difficult to measure the impact of the closure of the asbestos-accepting Trafalgar Landfill on the rate of illegal dumping.


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“Unlike past years all illegal dumping, including asbestos, is administered exclusively by the Waste Management team in the Community Assets Directorate,” Ms Anstis said.

“The scale of illegal dumping of asbestos, since the Trafalgar Landfill was closed in November 2011, is not clearly evident from the limited data currently available.

CEO of asbestos advocacy group Asbestoswise Josh Fergus told The Warragul Citizen not keeping records on where the potentially deadly material was dumped was “really short sighted.”

“To not be taking records at all really leaves situations wide open for not being able to assist people with their health concerns into the future,” Mr Fergus said.


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But Municipal Association of Victoria President Bill McArthur said councils should not be expected to manage more than a minimum of the asbestos disposal process.

“The State Government has primary responsibility for asbestos management in Victoria… they push enough stuff onto us without pushing this onto us.”

Click here to read The Warragul Citizen’s full investigation: Killer on our streets

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