An unsealed road passing by Wittenoom’s asbestos-laced gorges is costing dearly and asbestos compensation claims are still being lodged.
An unsealed road passing by Wittenoom’s asbestos-laced gorges used by miners and tourists is costing up to 10 times more to maintain than other similar roads in the district.
And Shire of Ashburton ratepayers are believed to have forked out $10 million in compensation claims for former residents and visitors to Wittenoom.
The shire is calling on the state government to pay to fix the Roebourne-Wittenoom route or reclassify it as a main road, which would place it under the state’s remit.
It argues the asbestos contamination of the road happened under the state’s watch, and the state has failed to rectify the issue.
“From 2019 to 2022, the road was graded twice, primarily due to the financial commitment required to perform such works and Council’s financial capacity,” a Shire spokesperson said.
“This has resulted in a decline in road serviceability due to erosion, usage, and reduced maintenance.”
A state government spokesperson said it had no plans to take control of the road.
“The Shire of Ashburton has approached Main Roads in the past, requesting reclassification of their section of Roebourne-Wittenoom Road,” they said.
“In 2022 Main Roads conducted a formal assessment on the reclassification of the road and confirmed that it did not meet the criteria to become a state asset.
“Manuwarra Red Dog Highway is considered to be the strategic route that connects Karratha to Tom Price.”
The state government made an election commitment in 2017 to seal the road between Karratha and Tom Price – which would leave the stretch of red dirt between the Tom Price turnoff and Auski Roadhouse as an unsealed link to the Great Northern Highway.
However, sealed access is available through Karijini National Park and that route is only about 30 kilometres longer.
Work to seal the final 110-kilometre stretch of the Manuwarra Red Dog Hwy is due to start this year.
The state government spokesperson said about 12,000 cubic metres of asbestos deposits had been remediated during roadworks by Main Roads to date.
Ongoing compensation
The Shire of Ashburton, CSR Limited, Midalco, state government, Hancock Prospecting, and Wright Prospecting are all parties to legal proceedings related to Wittenoom compensation claims.
Some 16 new claims have been lodged in the past 12 months which the shire has been a party to, 12 of which remain open.
10 claims have been settled during the same period.
Between 2008 and 2020 the shire paid out $6.3 million to people impacted by asbestos mining at the condemned town.
At the time former shire president Kerry White said it was no longer just former residents and miners making compensation claims.
“Insurance has covered a lot but we’ve run out of that now,” Cr White, now deputy president, said in 2020.
“It’s very unfair a local government has to pay this out when the state put the town there and the state got the royalties and we’re dragged into this with no help from the state.
“There has been a rise in claims received from tourists and people who visited the town for short-term work contracts who may have had building product exposure.”
A further $4.3 million was set aside in the shire’s budget between 2020 and 2022.
The Shire of Ashburton ceased publishing budget allocations for Wittenoom claims in 2022 and would not answer how much it had stumped up in the past year.
Business News understands the total sum paid out since 2008 is now about $10 million.
Personal compensation claims are not the only legal hangover from asbestos mining in Wittenoom.
Banjima Native Title Aboriginal Corporation’s board last year agreed to pursue legal action against the state government.
The group’s case appears likely to centre around the inability for Traditional Owners to carry out their rights under native title because the state government has failed to remediate the deadly tailings piles.
The Department of Planning, Lands, and Heritage has so far declined when questioned to acknowledge the existence of a report prepared by GHD which costed remediation of the asbestos tailings at $153 million in 2013.
Business News has seen extracts of the report to confirm it exists.
DPLH also declined to acknowledge existence of at least two further reports into the matter when questioned by Business News earlier this year.
