Dumped asbestos removed swiftly from Osborne site, Renewal SA says
Posted
Government agency Renewal SA says tonnes of dumped waste including asbestos has been swiftly removed from a site at Osborne in Adelaide's north-west, to ensure there is no public risk.
A union made the danger public when it found out about the illegal dumping and notified the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) and Port Adelaide MP Susan Close.
A Renewal SA official said the waste was dumped on former defence land it now owned at Osborne.
"We acted as soon as we were notified, arranging for a contractor to remove the waste for appropriate disposal at a licensed landfill," a spokesperson said.
"This work [was] supervised by a specialist environmental contractor."
The agency said an emergency response team from the EPA went to the site on Friday to gather evidence it hoped could identify whoever illegally dumped the building waste.
Renewal SA said the site was fenced but someone had cut the fence to let vehicles into the area.
The agency said the fence would be repaired urgently.
Authorities said there were up to five tonnes of building material, some of it in plastic bags labelled as asbestos.
The site is near a conservation park and the Port River and used at times by anglers and dirt bike enthusiasts.
Spokesman Andrew Wood said the EPA was confident there had been no risk to the public from the illegal dumping.
"It's not an immediate short-term health risk but if it was there for a long time it could be," he said.
"Asbestos really is a problem longer term, sort of in industrial use."
CFMEU official Dave Kirner was tipped off about the dumping and notified authorities once he visited the site on Thursday.
He said there was a family, with a five-year-old child, riding quad bikes at the time of his visit and they left after he warned them of the possible danger.
Topics: pollution, land-pollution, environment, health, osborne-5017, port-adelaide-5015, adelaide-5000, sa
