My Account
Mahurangi Wastebusters has beefed up security following the dumping of fibre cement board containing asbestos at its Lawrie Road refuse centre near Snells Beach.
In mid-January, four 600 square millimetre sheets of pre-1980 fibre cement board were hidden in a rubbish skip at the Lawrie Road refuse centre causing major disruption and putting customers and staff at risk during the busiest time of the year.
When the materials were discovered, they were doused with water to stop fibres becoming airborne. Carpet was then laid over the top of the skip and soaked. Afterwards, the skip was transferred to a safe location until asbestos removal specialists could deal with it.
A Mahurangi Wastebusters spokesperson says the costs associated with the exercise were significant and the organisation is appealing to customers to be vigilant and not bring any fibre cement board to their centres at Lawrie and Rustybrook Roads.
“As a result of this activity, we have installed security cameras and other identification methods with good results. We are following up on incidents,” she said.
“Mahurangi Wastebusters will seek reimbursement for all clean-up costs from the individuals involved.
This can be significant depending on what stage of the process it is discovered. As a last resort, there is health and safety legislation that offenders could be charged under.”
In December, Mahurangi Wastebusters announced that it would stop accepting all types of fibre cement board at its refuse centres because of the risk it could contain asbestos.
Asbestos-containing products are safe if left alone, but when cut or disturbed in any way the tiny fibres, which are up to 1200 times smaller in diameter than a human hair, can be released and breathed in for up to 30 days.
Breathing in asbestos can lead to life-threatening lung disease or cancer later in life.
