Mr Fluffy crisis hits home

This week, the full impact of the Mr Fluffy company's actions in the national capital hit home.

The ACT Government confirmed that two people who lived in homes where deadly loose-fill asbestos fibres were pumped into the ceiling as roof insulation have been diagnosed with the asbestos-related cancer, mesothelioma.

And this, homeowners fear, is just the beginning. Many are terrified that they are living in contaminated residences and are fearful of the exposure their families have had to loose-fill asbestos.

Already 10 homes have had prohibition notices placed on them by ACT Work Safe and families are not able to return.

Loose-fill asbestos is the most deadly form of the toxic substance because the microscopic fibres are easily inhaled into the lungs.

Mr Fluffy homeowner Karen Rush has become all too familiar with the threat after moving into a neglected property in 1994 that she renovated with her daughter for a decade.

“It’s not a casual bit of here and there we actually lived amongst it, we breathed it, we almost rolled in it – if you could only live your life over again,” she said.

Ms Rush had planned to sell her home in spring ahead of her retirement but is now stuck in a house that feels like a prison and has become worthless.

Several properties are understood to have recently sold for less than they would have if they were not Mr Fluffy homes.

A decision is expected next month on whether some - or even all - of the 1049 homes will need to be demolished.

This week one family chose to knock down their contaminated home before the government received the advice.

The head of the Real Estate Institute of the ACT, Ron Bell, is calling for full disclosure on the homes affected for sale purposes.

He wants the institute to have access to the list of houses so they can be fully informed of the Mr Fluffy status.

Mr Bell has also reminded agents that they face fines of up to $1.1 million for not disclosing Mr Fluffy homes like other “stigmatised” properties such as homes where murders had been committed.

“The Mr Fluffy homes are a stigmatised property – they’ve got to be treated as any other properties that are stigmatised,” he said.

Real estate agents have been presented with new guidelines around disclosure of those homes affected that are listed on the market.

Agent Christine Shaw, with Luton Properties, wants mandatory asbestos assessments on all homes put up for sale. Half of homebuyers were already asking if properties were free of Mr Fluffy asbestos.

“We’re seeing it at the coal face and it’s very emotional and it’s more I think because the medical issues aren’t going to surface for so many years into the future, that has the scare factor for people,” she says.

Mr Fluffy did not just insulate residences in the ACT but across the border in Queanbeyan, and in other regional towns such as Yass and Batemans Bay.

Despite a federally funded $100 million loose-fill asbestos removal program carried out in the late 1980s, residual fibres still remain in the homes today and some properties missed the clean-up altogether.

Yarralumla resident Mark Harradine discovered the residual Mr Fluffy fibres in his sub-floor by accident during a renovation when workers pulled up the floorboards and potentially released the microscopic fibres.

An asbestos report found the insulation had migrated down the walls into the sub-floor.

At the time in 2013 Mr Harradine was “sick in the guts” at the exposure to the workers and his family and was angry that they had not been told about the dangerous nature of the fibres left in the home.

They had received a certificate of clearance from the loose-fill insulation removal program when they purchased the property, assuming this meant it had been cleaned of asbestos and had never heard of Mr Fluffy.

This is a situation that many other Mr Fluffy home owners have found themselves in.

The Harradines recently decided to move out of their home and have rented another house while they wait to find out what will happen to the one they own.

“We’ve moved out, now we feel safe – now we can literally breathe easily,” Mr Harradine said.

“For us there seems to be a lot of support and we’ve got a solid foundation.”

The ACT government is dealing with the ramifications of a situation it did not create, but a dangerous legacy that still affects thousands of its residents.

The insidious fibres were pumped into the homes before the territory had self-government but the removal program ended when ACT authorities had responsibility for the jurisdiction.

Last month, the government established a special authority - called the ACT Asbestos Response Taskforce - and has made a series of announcements to help deal with the situation, including financial assistance to those affected.

Mr Harradine is among those to have registered with the taskforce and has been told that the family will receive some financial help.

Any workers in the territory who expect to be exposed to Mr Fluffy homes will have to undergo mandatory asbestos training before September 30.

The Fluffy Owners and Residents’ Action Group, started by Mr Fluffy homeowner Brianna Heseltine, has been instrumental in getting help for the hundreds of affected families and will continue to fight for a solution for the distressed residents.

The ACT government is also determined to ensure that the Commonwealth keeps its part in a 1991 memorandum of understanding signed between the two jurisdictions that would share costs of further remediation work on homes.

While not a legal document, ACT Chief Minister Katy Gallagher says it does put a moral obligation on the federal government to uphold its part of that agreement.

The chief minister has met with federal Employment Minister Eric Abetz, who has been tasked to co-ordinate the commonwealth’s response to the crisis.

Ms Gallagher is now waiting for expert advice on whether the homes can be further remediated or need to be demolished.

“None of those long-term decisions have been taken, that’s really because we need to get some very clear and definitive advice from the taskforce to both governments about what the options are,” she said.

“I need advice saying yes the houses can be remediated safely for those that still have loose fibre asbestos in them, or not.

“Some people say you can’t remediate them, there’s others saying they can be remediated safely, so we really need to get a grip on that.”

While the government was aware of the toxic legacy, it was not until a home in the inner north Canberra suburb of Downer was discovered to have missed the program in 2013 that the true nature of the problem was made clear.

The extent of the contamination of the home - as it was forensically deconstructed with a giant bubble encasing it - prompted them to write to all 1049 Mr Fluffy homes.

The letter urged residents to get an asbestos assessment report completed and the results have shown fibres have been uniformly found in sub-floors and in other homes on the top of cupboards, the fridge, bathroom ducts, or coming through cracked cornices into living areas.

The head of the taskforce, Andrew Kefford, said his team was trying to make contact with all home owners and people living in the Mr Fluffy houses.

This was to provide support but also to determine the full extent of the problem by paying for asbestos assessment reports to be carried out.

“I think no matter what else happens, the first thing that we need to get a sense of is the state of particular houses,” Mr Kefford said.

“That’s the step that will guide whatever the rest of that conversation is … straightforward remediation, complex remediation or this is a significant issue we’ve got to deal with.”

He said while houses were certainly a lot safer than they would have been if the program had not been carried out 20 years ago “clearly we’ve still got raw asbestos inside houses – we have to have another go”.

Mr Kefford said while the primary concern of those contacting the taskforce was the health of their family they were also worried about the value of their homes.

The deadly insulation also lies in an unknown number of commercial buildings.

It is a complex issue that above all is about health but is also about the financial security of many people’s most significant asset.

And while there may be a decision made next month over whether the 1049 homes will be knocked down the health fears that thousands face having been exposed to the fibres can never be demolished.