Is Anyone Safe?
Long after national prohibitions are in place, hazardous asbestos exposures continue; news from Australia, the Netherlands and Japan reveal that lack of enforcement by government agencies results in on-going risks to workers and the public.
On April 5, 2007, Australian news reports were circulated of the discovery of banned asbestos gaskets imported from South East Asia to the Northern Territory. A trade unionist from the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union discovered that 68 out of 70 tested gaskets contained asbestos; thousands of these gaskets had been used in the construction of a massive project by the Alcan Gove Alumina Refinery.1 Infringements of the national asbestos ban were also reported from the State of Western Australia where asbestos was found in pipes imported from India at the Alcoa Wagerup refinery.
On April 9, 2007, the Central Japan Railway company admitted that asbestos was still being used in air compressors and heaters in 35 bullet trains cars and 172 other train carriages. Claiming that passengers “were not in danger,” the company promised to replace all the asbestos-containing parts in April.
Having arrested six people on April 10, 2007, police investigations into a major asbestos fraud in the Netherlands continue; the scam involves asbestos removal work carried out by unqualified personnel on buildings throughout Amsterdam.2 Two civil servants from the Oud-Zuid (Old South) and Oud-West (Old West) districts were arrested on suspicion of helping property developers to avoid “strict environmental and construction regulations” during work on hundreds of flats in buildings purchased for approximately 130 million euros.
April 20, 2007
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1 Hazelton P. More breaches of import ban on asbestos. April 5, 2007. http://www.amwu.asn.au/default.asp?action=LoadArticle&ID=2821
2 DutchNews.nl. Amsterdam Asbestos Scandal Covers Whole City. http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2007/04/amsterdam_asbestos_scandal_cov.php
