Illegal Asbestos Dumping at Kingaroy Waste Facility
As a result of illegal dumping and not following some simple conditions of entry, parts of the Kingaroy waste facility’s concrete recycling area has been cordoned off this afternoon as a safeguard
due to asbestos containing materials (ACM) being dumped on site, over the weekend.
The area will be closed off until the materials can be safely removed and properly disposed of. It appears that a person or persons (yet to be identified) have brought in a couple of loads of broken tiles with fibrous sheeting and dumped the materials in two separate locations on the concrete and rubble pile. Likely a DIY home renovation job, the people may not even be aware they have been handling asbestos sheeting.
ACM poses a serious health risk to all users of our waste facilities where ACM hasn’t been properly wrapped and sealed prior to bringing it to the Kingaroy Waste Facility.
Council's waste team is striving to remedy this site as soon as possible to ensure on-site disruption is kept to a minimum.
A Council spokesperson said residents were urged to respect the waste materials they are handling at home.
If you live in an older home built prior to 1990, there is a high probability that you may have some form of asbestos containing material in your home. If homeowners are undertaking DIY renovations, then we urge everyone to take all precautions especially with fibro and fibrous sheeting used in wet areas, bathrooms, kitchens, laundries and the like. If you have vinyl flooring, older vinyl flooring may have asbestos backing on it. If you break or tear these materials, they can release invisible fibres into the air which can be inhaled. These items when not properly wrapped and disposed of, pose a health and safety risk to other users when they visit our waste facilities.
More information about asbestos can be obtained at the following links: https://www.asbestos.qld.gov.au/ and https://youtu.be/chVhLv1kVJ0
