Asbestos fly-tipping in London

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Fly-tipping, the dumping of waste materials illegally, is a big problem throughout the UK. Worryingly, large amounts of deadly asbestos have been fly-tipped in the greater London area recently.

In Bexley in April a massive load was dumped in Leafield Rd, a small slip road off the North Cray Rd. The local authority was alerted on a Sunday and closed the lane, putting up warning signs.

On the Monday the fire brigade was called in to damp down the dust. Part of the main road was closed as fire fighters from three areas put on full protective equipment, including breathing apparatus, and spent nearly three hours making the scene safe.

Specialist contractors then carefully removed the waste to a licensed land fill site, damping each layer down further as they removed it.

The council then contacted nearby allotment holders and a scout group to alert them to the possibility of contamination and sent specialist teams in to investigate. The council suspects the rubble to be a demolished factory roof. The whole incident was captured on CCTV but unfortunately the pictures are not good enough to identify the guilty parties.

In Ilford, also in April, there were two incidents of asbestos fly-tipping. Several bags of asbestos waste were dumped in the first. In the second a much larger quantity was dumped in a private service road near the Ley St car park. Children started playing with the second load before the council was alerted. The council then called in specialist contractors who damped the area down to control the spread of dust and removed the asbestos to a licensed site

In Merton in March a large load of waste reported to contain asbestos was dumped in Prince George's Rd. On analysis it didn't contain asbestos but local residents were very concerned until they were told otherwise.

All London boroughs regard fly tipping as a problem. The rubbish mainly comprises builders rubble, garden waste, white goods (fridges, etc.) and tyres. The object is to avoid the cost or effort of dumping special wastes at licensed land-fill sites. Most of this is environmentally damaging and also risks the health of workers and the general public as asbestos is a cause of cancer. Because of this it is also extremely expensive to clean up.

Mick Holder, of the London Hazards Centre, says "Questions must also be asked about the danger caused by the cowboy companies' removal works both to their workers and to the general public. Asbestos removal and disposal is a highly dangerous operation and should be done properly, controlling any possibility of the spread of dust and including safe disposal to a licensed tip. These firms are clearly willing to risk lives and must be caught urgently."

Part of the problem is that asbestos cannot be identified visually and must be examined under the microscope. As asbestos was generally used in products mixed with cement or plaster it takes specialist analysis to establish the true risk.

In London, until 1996, the London Waste Regulatory Authority (LWRA) by and large had control over waste disposal including fly-tipping. Since the LWRA was absorbed into the Environment Agency there hasn't been a single body looking at the issue. The Greater London Authority and the Mayor have fly-tipping on their agenda and there have been discussions about how their aims might best be achieved. The issue of who might be in control of this has yet to be decided. Currently fly-tipping incidents are dealt with at borough level.

Taking Bromley as an example there are 10-12 fly-tipping incidents involving asbestos every year. If this is typical of Greater London area then there would be well over 300 asbestos fly-tipping incidents every year.

Bromley says they only have a problem with asbestos cement sheeting being fly-tipped, i.e. corrugated sheeting used for roofs or walls in garages and factories. They have had five incidents recently after a quiet period and the amounts dumped tend to be reasonably small. Asbestos fly-tippers tend to use the same sites used to dump other waste. To combat this Bromley Council has introduced an enviro-crime reward scheme for information on fly-tippers. They have had one successful conviction not involving asbestos and say they have a couple more in the pipeline.

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