Death - From Asbestos !

For most of the last century asbestos was a legal content of most building materials and was widely used in industry.   In particular, it was the favoured component of the brake shoes fitted to every car and when the brakes were applied the friction released tiny asbestos particles as the brake lining was worn away.

Asbestos was a silent, cunning killer.  There is no minimum safe exposure level and in most cases it lays dormant in the lungs for up to twenty years before it delivers a slow and agonising death. Late last century bans came into force and all modern building materials are now asbestos free - and car brakes now feature a safer component mix.

The problem is the housing stock built before the 1980's is rife with asbestos and homeowners come face to face with it when doing even minor renovations.  It is not acceptable at the local landfill and the only legal way to get rid of it is to engage a licensed asbestos removal contractor who will wet it down to stop particles flying into the air, bag it and take it to a licensed disposal area where it will be immediately buried - and that is a costly procedure.

We are now plagued by bandit contractors who avoid this fee structure by simply dumping loads of asbestos material on private land and in some cases in the middle of suburban streets in the dead of night.  They usually obscure the number plates of their tip trucks with mud and select a quiet street in a suburban neighbourhood.   A quick press of the tipping mechanism and a load of waste lands on the road and the truck is gone in seconds.

Uncovered asbestos is prone to shed deadly particles and often these dumpings are close to schools and child care centres.  There is a danger that deadly Mesothelioma will appear in the lungs of those who breathed in those tiny particles a decade or so into the future.  Councils and government agencies spend millions on emergency clean-ups to reduce this danger.

It is now quite clear that most of this problem is caused by the same group of serial offenders. There is a small number of contractors who seek out asbestos loads because they know they can extract a premium price for its removal.   Of course they have no intention of paying the legal fee for its safe disposal because they intend to dump it in a public place - and pocket the money.

Detection methods are getting ever sharper and some of these bandits have been hauled into court - and given token penalties.   In some cases, the same person is the subject of arrest warrants for failure to appear and answer charges and still playing the same elusive game of dumping asbestos as their way of making a living.

It is time the law got tough and treated this crime for what it is - an act that can deliberately deliver death by manslaughter to innocent people.   The agitation of being carried in a truck and the blow as it lands on the road will certainly release any loose fibres to blow away in the wind and these will settle in a wide circle.   That act can result in catastrophe for innocent people who can not imagine how they could ever have come into contact with asbestos.

It is high time the penalty reflected the serious nature of the crime.