Wittenoom, Australia’s Most Notorious Asbestos Mine and Town

The once booming mining town of Wittenoom now sits abandoned amongst the picturesque landscape of the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Previously the centre of a bustling and prosperous mining industry, it now rests as the largest contamination zone in the southern hemisphere. Its haunting history has led to mass outcry from its past and long-awaited answers on its future. It was recently said by Western Australia’s Lands Minister, that the people need to be “realistic” about their expectations on the sites remediations and that "Sadly, even with remediation, it is unlikely the area will ever be safe to visit."

In the early 1930’s Mr Lang Hancock, father of mining magnate Gina Rinehart, found the presence of crocidolite better known as blue asbestos in the surrounding valleys and hills near Wittenoom. Soon after Hancock realised its worth and set claim to Wittenoom Gorge where in 1939 a primitive mine site and refinery was set up.

By 1943 CSR took ownership and saw Hancock to become the superintendent of its subsidiary company, Asbestos Blue Australia. By 1947 there where up to 200 miners working on site which saw the need for a town to properly accommodate them. In 1947 the company town known as Wittenoom was established. Schools, hotels, and amenities were set up and continued to serve the miners until its closure in 1966, due to its to its inability to turn a profit.

During its operation the miners and towns people often found ways to enjoy themselves using the tailings from the mine such as timed events to fill oil drums with asbestos the fastest or even golfing on “greens” made form the tailings. It was also common to using tailings to reduce heat by using it to cover roofs, pave roads and even in surfacing playgrounds in the town. Exposure to the asbestos in the town was a daily occurrence and inescapable. Children would sit and play in piles of asbestos and of the 20,000 workers and residents, 2,000 have since died of asbestos related diseases.

This number is likely to be higher however as suggested by Asbestos Diseases Society of Australia president Robert Vojakovic, who himself worked at Wittenoom Colonial asbestos mine. He mentions that it does not accommodate for the migrant work force hired to work in the mines who left for home once the mine closed and that these numbers could be as high as 4,000.

Today there are still about 3 million tonnes of asbestos waste tailings left behind since the mine's closure. These waste piles are now being eroded and spread across the landscape through wind and water and could potentially pose a further risk if not properly contained and remediated. Despite the West Australian Government passing the Wittenoom Closure Bill, there were no plans within the bill to deal with the waste left by the mining companies. The site of the town however has since been demolished and buried to dissuade adventures and thrill seekers from going to the old town site.  

There is still outrage from traditional owners who are unable to inhabit the land due to its contamination. Calls from traditional communities want the site to be remediated so they can once again use the land.

As the land is not currently owned by the previous mining venture companies there is debate over who is responsible for the cleanup of the site. The mining companies argue that as they no longer have claim to the land, the problem should be managed by the government. Estimated costs for remediation were around $20 million in 1988, with upper estimates at $600 million.  In 1994, a parliamentary inquiry into who was responsible for the cleanup, stated:

 “The committee considers that the companies responsible should clean up the widespread contamination that they caused in the gorges and recommends that the state government take instant and determined action to ensure that this occurs”

Despite this, no action has yet been taken to deal with the contamination at Wittenoom. There have been talks of encapsulating the asbestos tailings or even back filling the old mineshafts and sealing them shut. All that is known now, is that more work needs to be done before Wittenoom is safe to enter again.

References:

-          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wittenoom,_Western_Australia

-          https://www.watoday.com.au/interactive/2015/blueGhosts/

-          https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/may/30/im-so-angry-im-wild-the-never-ending-wait-to-clean-up-asbestos-town-wittenoom

-          https://www.naa.gov.au/blog/selling-wittenoom-dream

-          https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/it-has-devastated-aboriginal-people-wa-govt-has-no-plans-to-clean-up-wittenoom/1z42y7h0v

-          https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-08/demolition-of-asbestos-ghost-town-wittenoom-begins/102316358

-          https://nit.com.au/17-04-2024/10890/traditional-owners-should-play-key-role-in-major-wittenoom-clean-up