Time for new approach to stop deadly illegal disposal of asbestos

The commission had heard an illegal dumper disposing of one load of an average 30-tonne truck could avoid up to $13,500 in tip fees, including nearly $4000 in government levy payments.

Last year, a Herald investigation uncovered serious flaws in the response to the illegal dumping of asbestos as removal jobs boom in NSW.

Criminal operators stand to pocket huge sums by leaving their asbestos on vacant lots and streets. Fines amount to small fractions of the profits they stand to make. Prosecutions are rare.

And the stakes are very high. Peter Tighe, chief executive of the Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency, has said that 2000 Australians die each year of painful asbestos-related diseases such as lung cancer, asbestosis and mesothelioma.

Ironically, some of the high cost of dumping in NSW, which creates the incentive to flout the laws in the first place, comes from the government’s Waste Less Recycle More levy, which has raised the price of dumping at a metropolitan tip from $58.80 a tonne in 2009 to $135.70 last year. The levy is set to raise $337 million over the next four years. Of that, $65 million has been set aside to fund the fight against illegal dumping.

But what if the government made it easier, not harder, to safely get rid of asbestos? What if they were to subsidise the extra expense involved in safe disposal so businesses and homeowners could cheaply and easily get rid of this toxic waste?

The Australian Safety and Eradication Agency, waste contractors’ associations, the diseases foundation and the acting NSW Ombudsman have all argued that some forms of asbestos should be exempted from dumping levies. There have also been local trials to encourage the safe disposal of small amounts of domestic asbestos.

Governments are always loath to take on extra costs. But in the case of asbestos, doing nothing will ultimately lead to higher costs, in the form of prolonged healthcare and compensation. That is before you consider the horrible human cost. The lessons from James Hardie, the Australian firm that manufactured asbestos in the first place and for many years covered up the health risks involved, show that it is cheaper and kinder to tackle this problem sooner rather than later.

We need to make sure there are no more "Lawsons" and prevent a lifetime of anxiety and possible untimely deaths for workers and their families.