Almost sixty years after the Wittenoom asbestos mine closed, the Western Australia government has agreed to officially close the townsite.
However there are no plans to clean up what remains the largest contamination site in the southern hemisphere.
The Wittenoom Asbestos Management Area, classified under the Contaminated Sites Act 2003, stretches almost 47 thousand hectares, from the town to Wittenoom Gorge and Joffre Floodplain.
Nestled in WA’s Pilbara region, north of the iconic Karijini National Park, the town was literally wiped from the map in 2007 to discourage people from finding it and visiting.
But for Banjima mob, whose lands Wittenoom lies on, not returning isn't an option, and they are calling on the state government to clean up their Country.
Map of Wittenoom Source: NITV
Early days at Wittenoom
Former Banjima Native Title Aboriginal Corporation (BNTAC) chairman and Traditional Owner Maitland Parker was born just north of Wittenoom on Mulga Downs Station - owned by the Hancock family.
“My dad was a stockman on that station, so I grew up on Mulga Downs,” he told NITV News.
"Me, my older brother and older sister, the three of us lived there at that time with mum and dad."
Eventually, his father’s work pulled the family west, but Mr Parker always returned home.
“We always used to go back to Country. To Wittenoom, Mulga Downs and surrounding stations,” he said.
In 1936, Hancock Prospecting found blue asbestos deposits at Wittenoom, and seven years later, the Wittenoom Asbestos Mine opened its doors.
As a young child, Mr Parker would walk over asbestos tailings, remembering other children playing in the waste. What he once saw as innocent play, Mr Parker now knows as something much more dangerous.
“As a kid, it didn’t mean much to me. But, as I got older and started to hear and see all the destruction and that happening to Country, I saw people [contracting] the mesothelioma and passing away from it,” he said.
Through the 1950s and 60s, Wittenoom was the nation’s only supplier of blue asbestos, but by 1966 the deadly mine was shut down.
There is extensive, severe contamination of highly toxic blue asbestos fibre surrounding the Yampire, Colonial and Wittenoom mines, which shut 60 years ago. Source: Supplied
Shutting down Wittenoom
Now, after years of advocacy by the Banjima people, the WA Government has agreed to close the township.
Passing the Wittenoom Closure Bill in late March, the state government will take ownership of the remaining 17-privately owned properties in the town, which will all be demolished.
Lands minister John Carey told NITV News that the passing of the bill is a “significant step in resolving this longstanding industrial tragedy” and will see the ending of a “dark period” in the state’s history.
“Despite the very clear health risks of travelling to the area, people have continued to visit the site, but this new legislation means we will be removing all structures, so there will be nothing left to visit,” he said.
Whilst a significant step, Greens MLC Dr Brad Pettitt says it’s been a long time coming.
“I think part of the frustration... is that it's just that - a first step. It's taken so long to get to this point,” he said.
"Banjima People must be disappointed. There is no sense that government will go beyond this in actually cleaning up the bits of the area that is their Traditional Lands.”
“It makes handing back that Native Title pretty unsatisfactory.”
Contamination to continue
Despite having their Native Title Rights recognised in 2014, Banjima people have not been able to safely access their ancestral Country since mining began.
“It’s very hard. We’ve always got Wittenoom in the back of our mind," said Mr Parker.
"A lot of us now that belong to Country don’t go there. We know that some families still go there, they still take that risk to be on Country."
Despite Banjima’s aspirations, the state government is not committed to cleaning up the asbestos.
“Wittenoom is the largest contaminated site in the southern hemisphere, and around three million tonnes of asbestos tailings were left behind in the gorge and surrounding area,” said Mr Carey.
“No detailed work has been done on estimating the cost of clean-up but given the severity and extent of the contamination, it would be a significant undertaking.
"Sadly, even with remediation, it is unlikely the area will ever be safe to visit.”
Mr Carey told NITV News that the state government is reestablishing the Wittenoom Steering Committee to examine “ongoing management options”.
No Banjima people have been invited to sit on the steering committee. For BNTAC, it isn’t good enough.
BNTAChave put their demands to government, asking for: a Banjima representative on the steering committee, clarity on the government’s commitment to stabilisation and clean-up; a study and review into international best practices for asbestos removal and stabilisation; no mining approvals over Wittenoom; and for Banjima people to be awarded demolition works and other parcels of work on site.
These rare photos show the mounds of highly toxic blue asbestos, or crocidolite, left behind when mining ceased in Wittenoom 60 years ago. Source: Supplied
The sickness
For Mr Parker, it’s the delay that gives him the most anxiety, as the contamination continues to spread into waterways across the Pilbara.
“I am definitely worried, not only me but my people and all the other language groups that surround us as well. We have all lost family members over the years to this damage,” he said.
According to data compiled by the University of Western Australia, more than 1,200 former residents and workers of Wittenoom have died from lung cancer or mesothelioma, conditions caused by exposure to asbestos.
In 2016, Mr Parker was diagnosed with mesothelioma. He says the spectre of the illness is a constant concern.
“We never know when it is going get hold of someone and make them very sick – like I was,” he said.
“Several of the Banjima people that have been impacted, few have passed on as well. Not only Banjima people but our own family members and those of the people around us.”
“It has devastated Aboriginal people.”
Banjima Traditional Owner Maitland Parker won't stop fighting until he sees Wittenoom cleaned up. Source: Supplied
Fighting for the future
Mr Parker has a strong connection to Country, and is fighting to ensure that his grandchildren are able to share that same bond.
“We say to government, clean it up. We don’t care what it is going to cost you, if it’s going to cost billions so be it. It’s not our issue or our problem,” he said.
“Miners mined it, government allowed it, and they’ve let it sit since it's closed. It’s the worst site in the southern hemisphere... it’s a site that has been left to poison the Country, nothing has been done.
“My biggest fear is that government will keep stalling and stalling and stalling and we’re going to lose momentum.”
As the fight continues, Mr Parker calls for unity.
“I want all Aboriginal people in the Pilbara that have been affected by the old blue asbestos mining to say their piece, to be heard, to join the Banjima people in our fight,” he said.
“I need my own people, families and the language groups that surround us to join forces with us. Let us go as one big voice to government, for Country."
