Authorities have launched an urgent investigation into claims of loose-fill amosite asbestos at the Northbourne House office building, a finding that would, if confirmed, force a major rethink of the asbestos response to date.
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The ACT government has been working on the belief that Mr Fluffy asbestos was pumped only into homes and not into commercial premises in the territory. Asbestos taskforce head Andrew Kefford said on Tuesday that he was aware of only two businesses with the loose-fill asbestos insulation – a building in the Ainslie shops, now subject to a prohibition notice, and the Goodstart childcare centre in Aranda, now closed. Both were residences previously.
But on Wednesday, former Defence employee Glenn Smith told ABC Radio he had found loose-fill asbestos in his office at Northbourne House in 1990.
He said there had been a ''large amount of loose grey fibrous asbestos'' in the Telecom distribution box in his office. It had been identified as amosite asbestos – which was the type used by Mr Fluffy – and more had been found in the wall cavities, behind skirting boards and in Telecom risers throughout the building annex, he said.
Work Safety Commissioner Mark McCabe said he had asked the building owner for all documentation relating to asbestos and the asbestos management plan. He had also told the owner to have an urgent asbestos assessment done.
The incident report from 1990 said amosite asbestos had been found in wall cavities and behind skirting boards, but it was not clear how that had been established, Mr McCabe said. It also claimed asbestos had been found in a Telecom distribution box, but he was not sure why insulation would have been in a Telecom box. Nor did the report indicate whether it was Mr Fluffy asbestos, and it could have been from other products containing amosite asbestos, which was used extensively before it was banned in products such as thermal insulation, insulating board and ceiling tiles.
''If it does turn out that it is loose-fill asbestos in a commercial building, then we will have to work out whether it has implications elsewhere,'' Mr McCabe said. ''If it is Mr Fluffy, we would need to investigate. Was this a one-off? Or is it likely that there could be more?''
He would be surprised if it was found to be Mr Fluffy, he said. Given how the company operated, he did not expect to find it had pumped asbestos into a building of that size. However, it was not impossible, and he was not discounting it.
''Until this allegation today we’ve had no indication of loose-fill asbestos in a commercial environment, other than those two [Ainslie and Goodstart], which both had a residential aspect to them. We are not totally discounting it because we want to be careful. I think it’s unlikely but we will go through a rigorous process to investigate.''
Northbourne House is reported to be vacant, but was occupied until recently by Defence.
The Mr Fluffy asbestos at Ainslie shops is in the ceiling of the second floor above Edgars Inn on the corner. The pub is still open but two businesses were ordered to close on the second floor. Mr McCabe said cracks in the cornice and ceiling had been fixed and the owner was now working out what to do about fixing the roof.
Mr Kefford said on Thursday that some commercial buildings did contain a sprayed asbestos made up of asbestos mixed with a bonding material and sprayed into roof cavities. It became dangerous only as the bonding agent broke down. All commercial buildings containing asbestos must have management plans in place.
A title seach suggested the building is owned by Lasalle Funds Management.
