Residents blockade WestConnex asbestos removal

Local residents of the Sydney suburb of St Peters successful halted what they suspected was an illegal attempt to remove asbestos from the planned St Peters Interchange site in the ecologically and financially irresponsible $15 billion WestConnex road-tunnel project.

WestCONnex Action Group spokesperson Janet Dandy-Ward told Green Left Weekly: "The plans for the interchange, which were released by the [NSW] government on September 2, will totally wreck this suburb and the whole of the Inner West, by putting tens of thousands of cars on our small streets.

"We know there is no EPA licence to remove this asbestos. WestConnex has admitted to residents that it was removing asbestos unsafely in poorly covered trucks. It’s also said these asbestos trucks are not supposed to be driving past homes and schools on busy streets, yet residents have photographed truck after truck leaving the site and using these routes.

“We’re also deeply concerned about the health and safety of workers at the site, where asbestos is known to be scattered all over the place. Yet there are no sprinkler systems to dampen down the asbestos, and workers digging up the site don’t seem to be wearing protective gear.

“On top of this, there are huge questions about the legality of what they’re doing. WestConnex claim that they’re operating under council approvals that are nearly 30 years old — and for a waste disposal facility that no longer exists! We suspect they are digging a hole for the tunnel before the EIS is released. How can this be legal?”

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