A residential area on the northern beaches of Sydney was yesterday forced into lockdown following a major incident of asbestos contamination.
Hazmat crews attended the site in Bilgoa Plateau late on Tuesday afternoon after residents alerted them to visible clouds of particles in the air.
One resident told 9News explained it as “snow, like asbestos over the whole house. The dogs were covered in asbestos, the whole backyard covered in asbestos.”
A homeowner on the street had employed two private contractors to pressure clean the roof of the home, but the force of the water saw the asbestos fibres from the roof throughout the immediate area.
“We’re going to make a hot zone of the area we believe is affected,” said Superintendent Kel McNamara from NSW Fire and Rescue. “This could be a massive clean-up job.”
Initial reports have suggested that the two hired contractors are unlicensed and uninsured, but this is yet to be confirmed.
The mammoth job of containing the asbestos contamination has been managed by multiple agencies, and drain blocks and air monitoring systems have been put in place.
“At the moment we’re in emergency management mode,” explained one of the licensed assessors called in to the site.
“When asbestos is disturbed, it releases fibres into the air, therefore causing contamination.”
The expected clean-up bill from the contamination is likely to be in excess of half a million dollars.
SafeWork NSW has confirmed it is investigating.