Local Brendan Price brought the matter to the council meeting on November 26, demanding council take responsibility for putting residents' health at risk.

“I take my children to Hume Park and it is terrifying to think that, unbeknown to me at the time, they have been at risk,” Mr Price said.

He became aware of the issue after discussing it with previous council employees, who had been present during the development in 2008. 

“They told me that they had made complaints to council members at the time and their complaints had been ignored. They were concerned of personal ramifications of talking out about it. Six years later we have the same contaminated soil and still nothing has been done.”

Mr Price said that he attempted to contact council on two occasions and had been told that it should have been lodged during the three month normal time frame under the Procedures for the Administration of the Model Code of Conduct for Local Councils.  

A former council employee from 2008-2012, told the Tribune that they were one of the first on scene at Hume Park. 

“I found samples on the site, however there were alleged to be three tonnes of asbestos present,” the employee said. 

They made contact with senior staff members of the council and informed them of the issue in 2008, but they refused to do anything about it.

“I got my sample from within the landfill. I knew the development was completely illegal at the time and completely contradictory to the Protection of the Environment operations (POEO) act.

“Asbestos is treated as a hazardous waste and a number of times we had experts telling us to shut it down. This was completely ignored by council.”

Director of Planning and Environmental Services Chris Berry, in his report for the December council meeting stated that on December 24, 2008 the lessee of the site was requested to clean it up.

“I believe there was suspicions of asbestos on the site but nothing was formally identified,” he said.

In early 2009, there were discussions between council staff and the lessee regarding how the issues would be managed and some indication that activities were being monitored by staff. 

“There isn’t any records to indicate what had been undertaken following this, however it should have been monitored more closely,” Mr Berry said.

The Department of Environment & Climate Change requested information following allegations of non-compliance of asbestos disposal at the site. 

There are no records of any further action until 2012.

In May assistance was sought from the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA).

The EPA subsequently advised that Council engage an Occupational Hygienist to assess the entire surface area and in June a proposal from Robson Environmental was submitted to investigate the alleged contamination

“The [Robson Environmental] Report stated that it did pose an immediate risk to users of the site and it suggested that measures be taken to remove the asbestos from the site and that it should be done as soon as possible,” Mr Berry said.

Following the report no efforts to clean the contaminated land was undertaken by council.

“I don’t know who had decided on how to respond at the time, however I believe that the asbestos was not removed as it is contradictory to our understanding of how the material should be treated. Not disturbing the area seemed to be the decision reached at the time.”

Mr Berry explained that mistakes had been made by council and action will be taken to repair the problem.  

But Mr Price is concerned it may be too late.

“If only now people are not allowed near the site, I’m concerned what damage has already been done,” he said.

The issue will be discussed at tonight's council meeting.