Asbestos clean-up fiasco after fly-tipping near Kirkby

The piles of rubbish were fly-tipped on Bullock Lane, Riddings, on Sunday, September 5, at about 5pm.

However, a large number of chunks of the harmful substance have now been left scattered around the area nearly a week later.

Steve Barlow, an Ironville resident, said the issue was reported to Derbyshire Council, which closed the lane to traffic with signs on one side of the carriageway at 6pm.

The council is responsible for road closures, but is not responsible for the clearing up and disposal of harmful waste and fly-tipping, which is within the jurisdiction of the local district or borough council – Amber Valley Council.

Amber Valley Council said it was ‘made aware during Monday and arranged for a specialist contractor to visit the site and make arrangements for the waste to be removed and properly disposed of’.

Mr Barlow says the majority of traffic ignored the road closure signs which he claims caused the dumped asbestos to be broken up into many pieces and ground into smaller chunks with dust and debris across a large stretch of the lane – ‘about 100 metres in length’.

On Wednesday, three days later, at about 2pm, a borough council contractor used a small vacuum cleaner to clear up the crushed pieces of asbestos debris.

However, an array of chunks were left behind and were still scattered on the road on Thursday evening. This has been flagged up with both authorities.

Mr Barlow said: “Although there was certainly dust in what was originally dumped, the council have been grossly negligent by doing nothing whatsoever about the contamination/health hazard for more than 60 hours.

“This has only exacerbated the situation still further by creating massively more airborne pollution than was necessary.

“The specialist team consisted of a man in a van with a Henry Hoover, paper suit and mask.

“Once they had left, I went to my front gate and saw there were bits of asbestos still on the highway in front of my property.

“There must still be many pieces residing in the hedge bottoms as the vegetation there has not been disturbed during the ‘clean up’.

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‘Unacceptable health risk’

Speaking yesterday afternoon, Thursday, Mr Barlow said: “If it were not bad enough that asbestos dust has been in the atmosphere for 96 hours, there are pieces still on the road getting ground up to dust which will naturally be dispersed in the breeze, prolonging the already unacceptable health risk.

“This so-called ‘clean up’ has been no more than cosmetic, with a blatant disregard to public health and welfare.”

White asbestos, also known as serpentine, before being banned in 1999, was used in many products including insulation material for buildings, boilers and pipes, car brakes and floor tiles.

Public Health England says asbestos is not considered harmful when in large pieces and undamaged, but when damaged asbestos can release smaller fibres that can be breathed in or swallowed.

Breathing in asbestos can lead to a condition called asbestosis that leads to an increased susceptibility to cancer, with asbestos classed as being carcinogenic to humans.

Clean-up operation

A county council spokesman said: “It was reported to us on September 5, so we attended and thought that in the interest of public safety it was wise to close the road until Amber Valley Council would get a chance to deal with it.

“We reported it to them on Monday morning and they did have concerns drivers were ignoring the closure, which would make the clean-up operation both difficult and potentially unsafe.

“We have therefore worked with them by putting an attended closure in place this morning to make the site secure.

“This has enabled them to carry out the work and as soon as they are finished and we are satisfied it is safe to do so we will open the road up again.”

A borough council spokesman said: “There was waste deposited on the highway that had a high probability of containing white asbestos cement.

“The county council had to swiftly close part of the road to prevent vehicles driving through it and spreading it more widely.

“The borough council was made aware during Monday and arranged for a specialist contractor to visit the site and make arrangements for the waste to be removed and properly disposed of.

“We take fly tipping extremely seriously, and we remind residents that they are responsible for disposing of their waste lawfully, and ensure they use a registered waste carrier.”

The borough council has been asked about the remnants of asbestos which have been found littered around the surrounding area.

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