A HUGE pile of asbestos next to a Westlink bonfire has been secured by a plastic sheet held down by bits of scrap wood and sandbags, the Andersonstown News can reveal.
On Tuesday we visited the sprawling former Ulster Weavers factory site off the Donegall Road where two months ago a large quantity of the lethal fire-retardant material was found dumped on the site of an Eleventh Night bonfire.
It's believed the asbestos is from the roof of the now-demolished factory where linen and textile products were once made.
We’ve obtained the first pictures of the deadly pile, which early reports suggested was modest in size. It is in fact around five feet high and approximately 50 feet by 30 feet in area, clearly containing tons of the lethal material.
WATCH: First images of a large pile of asbestos beside an Eleventh Night bonfire overlooking the Westlink. The deadly material has been 'secured' with a plastic sheet held down by scrap wood and sandbags. pic.twitter.com/2G3Iak2T2F
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The Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) and Belfast City Council have been involved in a game of pass-the-parcel over responsibility for dealing with the asbestos, which an NIEA source recently told BBCNI could cost £100,000 to remove. It’s not known whether the fencing and sheeting were put in place by City Hall, the NIEA or the owner of the site, who both agencies have been in contact with.
The asbestos has been ‘secured’ in a way which one builder we spoke to described as “amateur hour”.
A number of six-feet high portable wire fencing panels have been placed around the asbestos. On top of the illegally dumped material a black plastic sheet has been spread, held down by bits of scrap wood and sandbags. Where the sheeting is held to the ground by the sandbags, multiple gaps expose the asbestos underneath.
A local builder we spoke to, who has experience of working with and disposing of hazardous materials, examined our pictures and said the asbestos remains a danger to anyone in its vicinity.
“The fencing is portable and easily bypassed or removed,” he said. “The sheeting has been secured using whatever they seem to have had handy, rather than what’s needed to do the job. It’s just amateur hour. There’s nothing effective enough either to keep kids from getting in there, to stop the elements doing their bit, or to stop burning debris from landing on the plastic. Asbestos is dangerous, but when it's burned it becomes much more dangerous. And there’s gaps everywhere in the sheeting – a strong wind would easily blow it off.”
Access to the site is gained via a set of open double gates at the junction of Lower Rockview Street and Monarch Street. A handwritten sign there on a wooden board reads ‘Dump wood inside bonfire!! Not at gate!! Your (sic) being watched.’ The asbestos has been dumped by the side of a short access road leading to the former factory site which is normally an empty, flat concrete expanse, but which is now dominated by a half-built bonfire and a large variety of dumped items. A hut made of pallets backs on to the asbestos pile.
WARNING: The entrance to the bonfire site is unsecured and a handwritten sign warns that it is being watched
At the start of the month, Belfast City Council said it was considering legal action against the NIEA and the landowner if “the necessary steps are not taken to remove the materials and secure the wider site”. In the same statement, the Council said the landowner had put temporary measures in place, but it’s not known whether this was a reference to the sheeting and the sandbags.
An NIEA spokesperson told us: “The Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) received a complaint concerning potentially hazardous waste at a site in the vicinity of Meridi Street, Belfast on the afternoon of Friday 16th May.
“Staff from the Environmental Crime Unit within NIEA were in contact with Belfast City Council about the matter on Monday 19th May and enquiries are ongoing.”
A Belfast City Council spokesperson said: “Council have been engaging with the landowner at this site to ensure that suspected asbestos containing materials are adequately secured. We have also served an abatement notice on the landowner requiring them to secure and contain the materials. NIEA is currently undertaking an enforcement investigation, as they are the lead enforcement authority in relation to this issue.
“Council continues to engage with NIEA and the landowner to ensure that the materials are removed as soon as possible. Elected members have also previously agreed that this may include pursuing legal action to ensure the materials are removed and the wider site secured. Council officers are also continuing to liaise with the local community to ensure that these materials remain fenced off.”
