Unacceptable risks of asbestos factory demolition

Unsheeted fully loaded wagon after it had reversed back down Spod Road (TBA site exit road). The photograph was taken at about 3.30pm Wednesday (27/8/13) from the highway on Rooley Moor Road. In the area around the nearside front wheel arch a green sheet can be seen neatly folded. This is the cover sheet that was attached to the wagon 10 minutes later.

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Uncovered demolition wagons have been leaving the former Turner Borthers Asbestos TBA site fully loaded with scrap metal.

On Wednesday 28 August an uncovered wagon was seen at the junction of the site exit with Rooley Moor Road, however, as soon as the driver spotted campaigners getting their phone out to take a photograph he reversed back down the access road into the factory complex only to return 10 minutes later fully sheeted.

A spokesman for Save Spodden Vallen said: "When he accessed the highway at Rooley Moor Road he stopped, obstructing the highway and began to take photos of campaigners on the footpath of Rooley Moor Road whilst he was still at the wheel. The driver suggested that members of the public were breaking the law taking photographs of private property. He was politely reminded that all members of the public concerned were on footpaths that formed public highways.

"When asked why he had been leaving the site with an uncovered wagon he denied that this was the case and suggested his cover sheet had been loose and he had returned to the site in order to tighten it up.

"Uncovered wagons may be a minor matter in the whole scheme of things, however, it does little to allay concerns about the partial demolition of what was once the world's largest asbestos factory. There have been repeated requests for full openness and transparency regarding official documentation relating to this site."

It is understood the TBA Working Party, which has been liasing with Rochdale Council for nine years about health and safety issues on this site, did not receive the courtesy of any notice from Rochdale Council officers that demolition was to commence. This was despite repeated requests to see paperwork and information relating to the conditions set by Rochdale Council for testing, analysis and Best Practice procedures for the demolition.

Hilda Palmer, of the Greater Manchester Hazards Centre, says: "Greater Manchester Hazards Centre is extremely concerned about risk to workers and to the surrounding community from the demolition work on the site.

"There is asbestos in the construction of the buildings, the friable asbestos tiles on the roof of the building recently burned, and inevitable asbestos contamination from the production processes that has accumulated in the fabric of the building.

"Removal must be carried out to the highest standards on site to prevent exposure of workers and of the public as even small amounts of asbestos pose a risk of mesothelioma years later.

"We are concerned that the local community has not been well informed about the process, the licences and surveys required, or the monitoring of the demolition. There are reports of lorries leaving the site without sheeting.

"This is all quite unacceptable and raises question as to the safety of the whole process and the real risks to both workers and local community."

Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk has previously said it is important that air monitoring should be performed and that precautions are taken to ensure contamination does not escape from the site via drains and watercourses.