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A typical suburban street in Canberra’s largest suburb has turned into the scene of a nightmare for a group of residents trapped in houses built entirely of asbestos.
While asbestos is found in thousands of homes throughout the ACT built before 1985 these six in Kambah consist almost entirely of the toxic substance.
Their residents cannot change a light fitting, put in a towel rail, hang a picture or stop the gradual wear and tear of a 1970s building without releasing deadly asbestos fibres.
The six in the same street were built by the National Capital Development Commission as experimental modular houses in the early `70s and were used for public housing.
Property data shows at least five have been sold during the 1990s.
They were put together in panel polystyrene blocks sandwiched between asbestos cement facings.
Resident Jay Kelly discovered what his house was made of after starting renovations. He paid $357,500 for the three-bedroom house in 2009.
The commercial refrigeration mechanic planned to renovate for a few years and build equity to invest into land at Michelago while keeping the house as an investment.
He says at no stage in the sales process was he informed it was made almost entirely of asbestos and he is now stuck with a worthless house that he won’t be able to sell and can’t afford to knock down.
“I’ve gone back hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Mr Kelly said.
The building report describes the construction as “fibre cement sheet clad sandwich panels over foam, with metal wall framing” but the composition was not listed as known.
Under ACT legislation vendors must provide an asbestos assessment report, if there is one, or generic advice on asbestos if there is not – this is what the young first homebuyer received.
Despite the fact the government built the houses and allowed them to be sold, ACT authorities have told the owners it is up to them to fix the problem.
Mr Kelly discovered the danger when he was in the middle of renovating and a neighbour ran over shouting for him to stop.
He had already done internal work including sanding and repairing in preparation for repainting the pink walls.
Mr Kelly sent a sample of the house to the ACT Government Analytical Laboratory for testing where it was found to be bonded chrysotile asbestos.
This is the most common form of the substance in the ACT and it differs from the amosite loose-fill asbestos now plaguing thousands of the city’s residents.
The loose asbestos was pumped into ceilings as insulation and is always present in a dangerous form as microscopic fibres. Bonded chrysotile asbestos becomes dangerous when it is degraded or disturbed and fibres are released.
Another test by Robson Environmental showed the chrysotile asbestos to be in the internal walls, external walls, ceiling sheets, eaves sheets and joint cover strips.
“No renovation or repair may be carried out in this house if it involves drilling, screwing or sanding which may disturb asbestos containing materials,” it said.
The report also rated the internal house as being in good condition with no risk of exposure during normal building use.
But, Mr Kelly said, his house remains dangerous due in part to its poor design and lack of insulation which causes mould to constantly grow on all surfaces and leads to paint cracking because of the moisture.
He is continually repainting but cannot work on the house to improve the situation.
The other day he caught his partner’s young son sticking his finger into the hole in the wall where a towel rail had been pulled out.
“How do you teach an eight-year-old asbestos awareness?” he said.
Mr Kelly feels trapped in the house that he can’t do any work on and is angry that the advice he has been given from the government is not realistic.
He said his home does not contain a manageable amount of asbestos and if he was to remove the substance he would be left with only windows and a tin roof.
“I can’t just sell the house because I can’t pass it on to someone else,” he said.
“I can’t rent it out – who would live here with the mould.”
Mr Kelly and the other home owners want action on the matter, believing their health and financial security are under threat.
Do you kow more? meredith.clisby@fairfaxmedia.com.au