Last Updated on 27th October 2016 by

Asbestos waste dumped by flytippers on a Blackpool Street

Last week, reports were circulating about a case of asbestos waste dumped by flytippers on a Blackpool Street.

They dumped over 600kg of the hazardous material in a residential area.

Blackpool Council had to come out to clear the blue bags away.

Officials are now saying the culprits have to be caught and dealt with by the authorities.

The flytipping incident was reported to the council by Councillor, Tony Williams.

He wants these flytippers and others like them to be suitably punished, as they are endangering the lives of families within the community by dumping hazardous waste where people live.

Tony said, “I just can’t believe somebody would do this.  This was 600kg of asbestos.  When people are removing this stuff they need specialist clothing.”

“It has just been left out in the street.  Not only is this illegal, it’s also extremely dangerous, especially to young children who might be playing in the area.”

“Those cowboys who did this need to be caught.  They need to be caught and properly punished.”

“It’s criminal.  They need to be arrested and appear in court.”

Local resident says flytipping is a recurring problem

A local resident and mother, Wendy Ainton, says this incident is by no means isolated, and is infact just one of many fly-tipping incidents that have occurred near her family’s home.

She did say though that this latest discovery of asbestos had still come as quite a shock.

She said, “I came from work and it was just there in the alleyway.”

“You could see straight away what it was.  I was out there for hours making sure nobody went near and had to tell the lads on their bikes it was dangerous and to stay away.”

“I was worried about cats tearing the bags open.  It’s unbelievable somebody would do this.”

Wendy thinks that the bags of asbestos waste had been dumped by someone working on clearing a building.

Wendy said, “I’ve had pretty much a whole kitchen dumped in my garden.  There was a dishwasher, a washing machine, a tumble dryer, a fridge freezer, two bikes and a chair.  Then on Thursday I came back and there was a fridge and a pile of bin bags.  I’ve had to pay for that to be removed, and now I’m paying for CCTV to be fitted.”

The bags of waste, which contained asbestos sheets, were just dumped in the street, at the rear of a garden where a child’s trampoline was.

There were 11 blue bags in total.  A twelfth bag was found outside a garage nearby.

Then a red bag was discovered next to the one left at the garage with the word ‘asbestos’ marked on it.

Council seeks to prosecute people responsible

Blackpool Council have said that luckily, none of the bags dumped were open, so posed no immediate threat to the public.

This would have been a different story if say wildlife would have teared the bags open and asbestos had leaked out.

Councillors are furious with the flytippers.

Deputy Leader of Blackpool Council, Gillian Campbell, said, “Fly tipping is absolutely unacceptable, illegal and a blight on local communities.”

“There’s no valid excuse for carrying it out, and if we find evidence of any fly tipping then we will seek to prosecute the people responsible, either the waste removal company or the people whose information is found in the dumped rubbish.”

“Fly tipping asbestos shows a complete disregard to local communities and could be very dangerous.  We safely cleared this incident up within 24 hours, but that costs time and money that could be used keeping the streets clean and emptying the bins.”

“We need the community to stay vigilant to help us stop fly tipping.  People should only have their waste removed by legitimate registered waste carriers and offers to remove rubbish that seem too cheap to be true probably are.”

“At the same time, I’d ask all residents to keep their eyes open for evidence of suspicious activity that may be related to fly tipping, and report it to us online at www.blackpool.gov.uk/flytipping.”

 

Source of article:-  www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/news/asbestos-cowboys-deadly-waste-dump-in-blackpool-street-1-8163084

 

Duty holders and employers have a legal responsibility to manage asbestos in their building so as not to put employees at risk. Contact our Armco office for asbestos management and refurbishment/ demolition surveys on 0161 763 3727 or by visiting https://www.armco.org.uk/

Alternatively, for all your asbestos training needs call 0161 761 4424 or visit https://www.armcoasbestostraining.co.uk/ for more information or to book a training course.

 

Published Oct 11, 2016