NEWS
RATEPAYERS TO BE HIT OVER ASBESTOS BY JEREMY SOLLARS The Southern Downs Regional Council has refused to confirm or deny if it is facing legal action brought by the Queensland Government over an asbestos incident at Warwick Central State School in August last year. As reported in the Free Times in 2018 top-dressing material containing low levels of asbestos was spread on the Warwick Central State School oval, and on the main Collegians Junior Rugby League Club playing field at St Mark's Ovals in Warwick, with a still-unidentified whistle-blower alerting the council and the Department of Education shortly afterwards. The surfaces of both were subsequently ripped up by contractors using heavy earthmoving equipment and replaced at what is understood to be significant expense to ensure the safety of students and junior rugby league players. In at least the case of the Collegians playing field the top-dressing material was sourced from a private supplier who in part used mulch - containing asbestos fragments - obtained from a council waste facility. It has not been conclusively established how the asbestos found its way into the council mulch, but Right To Information (RTI) documents obtained by the Free Times indicate it was via illegal dumping by unknown parties potentially as far back as 2014, when free mulch was offered to the public for collection from the Allora Waste Facility in December of that year. The Free Times understands the State Government may be pursuing legal action against the council to recover costs related to the Warwick Central State School incident, and the council has faced or may be facing action by Workplace Health and Queensland (WHSQ) over asbestos at a number of its waste facilities. A council spokeswoman this week said the council's policy was not to comment "on legal matters", but what is on the record is that the council is currently seeking tenders from the private sector for the remediation of sections of three of its waste facilities where asbestos is located - at Warwick, Allora and Killarney - at a likely considerable cost to ratepayers. The tenders are due to close at 2pm on Thursday 29 August 2019. Mapping associated with the tender documents indicates the locations requiring remediation are well away from areas accessed by the public during the normal course of household waste disposal and the documents do not suggest there is a risk to public health. The tender documents publicly available on the Queensland Local Government 'Tenderbox' website state that all three of the wate facility sites "currently have asbestos issues that need to be remediated" and that the council "is seeking a suitably qualified and experienced contractor to remediate the sites". "The Allora and Killarney Transfer Stations and Warwick Landfill have material stored on site that is likely to be contaminated with asbestos," the tender documents state. "These sites need to be remediated to ensure Council operates both sites in accordance with its environmental approval. "The scope of work will include the collection, cleaning and removal of contaminated material and soils from the designated areas. 14 SOUTHERN FREE TIMES
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Contractors removing the surface of the Warwick Central State School oval in August last year. "The contractor must fully inform themselves of the extent of the works. No variation will be considered where a contractor has not undertaken sufficient site investigation. As a general overview, the following surface quantities are likely required to be removed (NB: This includes soil to be scraped back and removed (indicative estimates only that will need to be confirmed by contractor): ¡ Allora - 4,900m3 ¡ Killarney - 3,600m3 ¡ Warwick - 7,100m3 "Practical completion of the work must be reached no later than three (3) months from the Contract Commencement Date unless an extension is expressly agreed to in writing by the parties. This is a material term of the contract. "The contractor must collect and remove waste material, which is likely to be contaminated with asbestos, from the subject locations and transport to the Warwick Landfill site located at Lot 131, SP108821 or an approved alternative location as negotiated. "If an approved alternative location for disposal is negotiated, the Contractor is responsible for any fees payable for disposal, and for making any arrangements necessary with that location's contact person. "During the collection, removal and remediation of the subject locations, the contractor must use appropriate suppression methods to ensure contaminated waste does not become airborne. "All collected wastes to be transported must be securely wrapped for both transport and disposal to mitigate the risk of airborne waste contamination. "The subject locations must be remediated so that no potentially contaminated asbestos waste can be accessed or excavated from the subject locations. This will mean the contractor will need to scrape back approximately fifty (50mm) millimetres of the top layer of soil and dispose of in accordance with the asbestos disposal requirements. "Once excavated, a geo-fabric layer must be placed on the excavated area. Clean gravel (equivalent to road base) must then be brought onto the site and placed over the geo-fabric layer to a minimum coverage depth of fifty (50mm) millimetres, ensuring the capping of the areas of potential contamination.
Thursday, 15 August, 2019
Asbestos remediation tenders have been called for work at the Allora, Killarney and Warwick waste facilities. "At the conclusion of the remediation, the contractor must engage an appropriately licensed asbestos assessor to inspect the sites to verify the subject locations have been remediated. "The contractor must provide Council with a copy of the clearance inspection certificate issued by the licensed asbestos assessor within twenty-four (24) hours of issue. "The contractor must not talk to the media, but instead direct all media enquiries to the Council delegate."
A PAPER TRAIL? While the council has declined to comment on any potential legal action it may be facing over the 2018 asbestos incidents, the Right To Information (RTI) material obtained by the Free Times in relation to the council's asbestos issues shows officers appear to have known about the presence of asbestos at waste facilities as far back as 2016. While the RTI documents are heavilyredacted - and the Free Times has chosen not to name specific council staff identified in emails and other documents - they show the council had concerns about asbestosrelated insurance claims, and was concerned about the public reaction to asbestos incidents, referring to "hysteria" and "risk and reputation". The following are excerpts from the RTI material detailing internal exchanges between council staff dating back to late 2017, when it appears the council first became aware asbestos material may have
been leaving its waste facilities in the form of timber and other mulch products ... (Monday 16 October 2017) "Hi ... please find below details of an issue we became aware of on Friday. As you will see ... and I are meeting with relevant parties this week to obtain further information, but wanted to make you aware of this as soon as possible." "How do we know the Asbestos came from our facility and does (redacted breach of confidence) add anything else to the material he gets from SDRC? Do we know how this came to attention, has the material just been supplied to the person in ... Is there a chance that there was already asbestos contamination at the ... property? If there appears to be any clear evidence the asbestos came from our compost we need to inform our insurer through ... Please keep me informed." "On Friday I received a call from ... who is an asbestos removalist in Warwick. He has been speaking to a person in ... about some asbestos he has found in some compost/ soil conditioning that he received and has applied to his lawn. ... advised that the product came from (redacted - breach of confidence). The mulch that made up this product came from the Allora waste facility approximately two (2) years ago. ... was of the opinion that the health, safety and environmental risk is negligible but he appreciates the attention asbestos brings ... The pathway for council will be clearer once more information is obtained from both ... and (redacted) it will come down to risk and reputation. " freetimes.com.au