Asbestos fears for Balmoral couple who survived NSW bushfires
February 20 2020
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-20/asbestos-fears-for-balmoral-couple-who-survived-nsw-bushfires/11980840
Debbie Padroth and her partner, Pete Richer, stared down a firestorm to save their home at Balmoral, south-west of Sydney, but two months are concerned about the safety of their drinking water from asbestos contamination.
The couple’s home was in the path of the massive Green Wattle Creek Fire as it tore through the Wingecarribee Shire on December 19, 2019.
Three of their neighbours who were evacuated lost their homes in the fire.
“You look at rubble every day and you know there is asbestos there,” Ms Padroth said.
“It’s been raining — that is leaking into the creek system and the winds are blowing dust onto our property.”
“They both contained asbestos, there are asbestos contamination signs out the front of their yards and only one of the homes has been sprayed.”
Where contamination is found, and the property is close to where people are still living, the NSW Government has promised a PVC binder spray will be used to further minimise the risk of asbestos particles spreading.
Concerns about asbestos in their drinking water
More than two months on from the fires, Ms Padroth is concerned that the debris, dust and asbestos fibres, being blown around from the destroyed homes, has contaminated her water supply.
“It’s a bit late now, maybe I am naive, but I am thinking about asbestos contamination in the tanks and in the water supply,” she said.
“Maybe the horse has already bolted, so I’m just wondering if we can get the water tested, because we don’t want to waste water — 60,000 litres of water.
“I don’t want to throw that out, but if I could get it tested, then it would be OK.
“What do you do? I’ll probably cark it from asbestosis in 20 years.”
The couple attended a bushfire recovery meeting in Buxton this week and had the chance to ask for assistance and were provided with a few phone numbers to enquire about help.
“We have been buying bottled water, but we have been drinking it and we shower in it, so we really need to know [if it is safe],” Ms Padroth said.
Experts say there is no risk to water
The president of the Australian Institute of Occupational Hygienists, Andrew Orfanos, said there is no risk of water being contaminated.
“There is no scientific evidence suggesting ingesting asbestos fibres [in water] can cause harm,” he said.
“Many day-to-day things have asbestos fibres in them — it is quite ubiquitous throughout our environment.”
Mr Orfanos said there is no need to discard water because of an asbestos rick, but said tanks should be checked for ash or dust that has settled as a result of the combustion from the fires.
“But even in that case most of those particles would be insoluble and likely to sit at the top of the tank or rest on the bottom,” he said.
He recommended using a particulate filter to remove any other sediments.
“Asbestos needs to be small enough [to] get into the deep crevasses of your lungs, which are called the alveoli,” he said.
“And to generate fibres that small, you actually have to drill or sand asbestos containing materials to generate those fibres.”
Mr Orfanos has offered to reach out and contact the couple and explain the risk situation.
NSW Fire and Rescue saved home
The fire reached the couple’s backyard and with the help of the NSW Fire and Rescue crews they saved the property.
“It was very, very close to our house, we just had to make sure we weren’t getting ember attacks,” Ms Padroth said.
“It’s such a beautiful area. The gum trees just went up in flames [and] in a matter of 10 minutes it was all over.”
She said they were determined to stay and had a solid plan to defend their home against the flames.
“Pete put a sprinkler system all along the fence and roof, we had a full water tank hooked up to a petrol tank, with 25-metre hoses, just watching it all the time and spraying it down,” Ms Padroth said.
“If it all went pear-shaped we were going to crawl under the house and hold on to each other, at least we would have been together.”
Couple thankful to be alive
Ms Padroth said she had never been tested like this before in her life.
“We survived,” she said.
We still high-five each other every day — yeah we made it.”
Government response
A spokesman from the NSW Disaster Recovery said the protection of life and community safety during clean-up is paramount.
“Multi-agency Building Impact Assessment teams, comprising the NSW Rural Fire Service, Fire & Rescue NSW, the Environment Protection Authority and Public Works Advisory (PWA), have been testing properties impacted by fire for hazardous materials, such as asbestos,” the spokesman said.
“Where contamination is found and the property is close to where people are still living, a PVA binder spray is used to further minimise the risk of particles spreading.
“Undisturbed asbestos poses a very low risk following bush fire and extensive air monitoring in Balmoral has not detected any unsafe readings.
“We encourage property owners with concerns about potential contamination of rainwater tanks to contact Public Works Advisory for advice on testing.”