Asbestos Soil Contamination And Safe Removal

Asbestos might be found in the soil on any kind of property. For instance, it could be present since buildings which contained asbestos materials were not pulled down and disposed of appropriately or because asbestos-contaminated soils were used as fill material or as top soil. When in the soil, asbestos is a health risk if the fibres become airborne such that they get inhaled, especially for prolonged periods.

Extended exposure to asbestos fibres can cause lung cancer, mesothelioma, and asbestosis. There are specific legal requirements prohibiting just anybody from storing, supplying, selling, transporting, using and even re-using asbestos-contaminated soils which are deemed to contain any visible quantities of asbestos.

Inspecting Contaminated Soil

If any asbestos-contaminated soil is meant to be stored, transported, supplied, sold or even used it has to be first inspected by an authorized and competent person. This is the control and management person who must make sure that any discernible asbestos-containing material or ACM is eliminated as is rationally practicable.

Once the competent person has determined that the soil does not contain visible asbestos it may be employed for the intended use. In case ACM is evident in the same soil at some later stage, it must once again be inspected and all detectable asbestos eliminated. At this stage, this task is the obligation of that individual with control and management of the soil. This is a duty that is not applicable to transporters who are licensed to dispose ACM as asbestos waste.

From time to time it might be more financially reasonable to simply remove and get rid of the soil as asbestos waste rather than follow the process of inspection and clearance which might otherwise be obligatory.

Who Can Inspect The Soil?

A competent individual ought to inspect the concerned soil to find out the possible quantity of contamination and subsequently verify that all visible ACM has indeed been eliminated as is practically possible.

The scope of the soil inspection necessary is dependent on several factors such as background information on the site and the soil, the possible quantity of asbestos contamination and the probable contamination source. A competent inspecting individual must prepare a written statement in relation to the inspection and results which is then given to the soil recipient.

Writing for the Master Builders Australia website in September 2013, Richard Calver, in a paper titled Updated Research Paper On Asbestos Soil Contamination guides contractors on the way to comply with the pertinent provisions laid down in each Territory and State's environment protection laws vis-à-vis the amendment to the National Environment Protection (Assessment of Site Contamination) Measure 1999, which came into effect from May 2013.

Transporting The Contaminated Soil

Soils that are asbestos contaminated must be dampened prior to being packaged for purposes of transportation. This checks the possibility of fibres becoming airborne. The soil should be vigilantly transferred into an appropriate container, sealed and then suitably labeled as asbestos-material.

Vehicles owners and operators transporting waste asbestos materials from a commercial or industrial source must be holding an Environment Protection Authority (EPA) permit for waste transport.

The Environment Protection Authority (EPA) operating under the mandate of the Protection of the Environment Operations (Waste) Regulation 2005 stipulates that it is also illegal to recycle, re-use, or illegally dump products made of asbestos.


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