EXCLUSIVE
Asbestos found: Workers at the Barangaroo site have to wear respiratory devices following the discovery on Friday, which is the third since April. Photo: Dean Sewell
A fresh discovery of potentially deadly asbestos has been made at Sydney's premier development site at Barangaroo.
Construction workers on the site held a stopwork meeting on Friday after 23 fragments of asbestos were uncovered in 10 minutes on February 28. It is the third discovery since April, and the union said asbestos was being found ''all over the place''.
The wellbeing of residents and office workers close to Barangaroo is also under renewed scrutiny after the developer, Lend Lease, decided to close a childcare centre 30 metres away.
Lend Lease says the decision is ''absolutely unrelated'' to the discovery of asbestos but the union says it shows the company is concerned about potential liabilities.
The president of the Asbestos Diseases Foundation of Australia, Barry Robson, said he was ''gobsmacked'' to see people using a public walkway through the site on Friday after asbestos had been discovered nearby.
''Here's the company dressing its workers in overalls and masks and yet you've got the public walking past the same pile of dirt with no warnings,'' he said.
He called on the government to close the walkway immediately.
The renewed focus comes as the Environment Protection Authority prepares to release an expert report into the management of asbestos at the site.
Lend Lease has been dogged by concerns about asbestos discoveries at Barangaroo since asbestos was found in soil in April.
Lung X-rays were carried out on 150 workers to establish their condition in case of future claims.
An EPA review found asbestos was being ''appropriately handled'' and that air monitoring showed no signs of asbestos fibres.
But in November, the authority halted plans to move up to 150,000 cubic metres of landfill containing up to 1 per cent bonded asbestos from the southern end of Barangaroo to the northern tip for the base of the headland park.
Citing community concern, the EPA commissioned an independent public health expert, Tim Driscoll, to review the company's asbestos management plans. This report is expected to be released this week.
The stopwork meeting was held after the most recent discovery at the planned headland park.
The state secretary of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, Brian Parker, said workers would be given lung X-rays after discussions with the park's design and construction manager, Baulderstone.
Mr Parker said workers were now finding asbestos ''all over the place'' at Barangaroo.
The childcare centre, on the ground floor of Lend Lease headquarters at the Bond building in Hickson Road, caters each day for about 65 children of Lend Lease employees and nearby residents. It is naturally ventilated to the street through open mesh.
Lend Lease told the centre's operator, KU Children's Services, on February 26 that its contract would end in August and the centre would close.
A Lend Lease spokesman said the decision was ''absolutely unrelated'' to asbestos at Barangaroo but would not elaborate other than to say it was a ''difficult decision''. But Mr Parker, who warned in April of the possibility of asbestos fibres blowing into the centre, questioned the response.
''I think they're closing the childcare centre because they don't want future legal action based on the fact there could be some exposure to the kids,'' he said.
Director of the Asbestos Diseases Research Institute Nico van Zandwijk said asbestos fibres could travel for many kilometres, depending on their source.
He said the risk associated with Barangaroo's proximity to the childcare centre and nearby apartments and businesses depended on the quality of the air monitoring and whether asbestos fibres had been detected.
However, Professor van Zandwijk also agreed there was a question about whether preventive action should be taken, given that once fibres were detected it was possible they had already been inhaled.
''If there are no fibres detected so far there is no need to be alarmed,'' Professor van Zandwijk said. ''But I think it's good to be completely aware''.
A spokeswoman for the EPA said that given its history as a maritime industrial site it had always been expected that small amounts of asbestos would be found at Barangaroo.
She said monitoring had not detected airborne asbestos since work began in late 2011.
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