@GameRocker
It's wrong on so many levels that a company is directly involved in the deaths of so many people, and the punishment is just a tiny portion of their revenue.
@tverez
My family immigrated from Europe to Wittenoom after the war, my Dad, Aunt and Uncle were all born here and used to play in the tailings when they were kids. Their dad was the town baker but had also worked in the mine for several years. He died of Mesothelioma the year before I was born and my uncle died of it in the late 90's. Due to the high risk Dad, my aunt and Nan have to be tested every 6 months just in case they also develop it.
@BuildBuy12
A crazy thing is, this town is likely much more deadly still today than Chernobyl's exclusion zone, which you can freely book tours through and is still inhabited by a few very stubborn people. Afaik, the population is even rising again Really puts into perspective just how dangerous asbestos is
@paulie.d33
The reveal of what the "blue dust" really was gave me chills. The musical sting really drove it home
@itsjustmenova
I’m an Australian born and raised in Broome with friends and family in Kalgoorlie, and I’m honestly amazed I had never even heard of Wittenoom, let alone realised just how close it was to my home town
@RonLucock
Just a reminder folks if you're thinking of boycotting CSR sugar products in the supermarket, that this is now a "different" CSR to the company in this video. They were originally one & the same. They originally started in sugar in Queensland's colonial days (the name stands for Colonial Sugar Refineries), but later got in to mining, construction & producing building materials (like Asbestos panels!!) This proved to be more profitable than sugar so they sold off their entire sugar business to singapore-based company Wilmar International in 2010. Wilmar kept the CSR name because of its enormous brand value, at least in the supermarkets. So when you buy CSR sugar, your money is still supporting the Australian sugar industry & its workers. The profits might be going to Singapore, but maybe that's better than to the shareholders & executives of the real CSR of today.
@samsorensen3134
My mum was there as a 4 year old in the 1940s. I went there in the seventies. She died of asbestos cancer , only a few weeks after her diagnosis. Makes me so angry I lost my mum who was so healthy and living her best life. She wasted away to nothing in weeks. Miss her forever ❤
@BabyZoomer
I found this very interesting because in the United States we’ve had quite a few similar incidents such as Picher Oklahoma and Times Beach Missouri. Picher Oklahoma was a lead mining town that supplied materials for bullet manufacturing for the military. Similar to wittenoom, large piles of lead dust, or chat, were dumped throughout the town. The lead dust also continues to be picked up by winds and blown around the surrounding area to this day poisoning water supplies, nearby towns (if I’m not mistaken), and Native American reservations. Times Beach was a small town in Missouri that also fell victim to toxic waste contamination when a nearby chemical company subcontracted the removal of their oil waste to a local businessman. The oil was found to be good at solidifying dirt roads and keeping dirt from flying away in heavy winds so the businessman would spray dirt roads for the town. Little did he know that what the company did not tell him was that the oil contained dioxin, which was used to make agent orange for the Vietnam war. Residents of the towns who’s roads he sprayed started falling extremely ill and dying from the toxin. Similar to the other towns, Times Beach was later closed and demolished. Toxic materials are no joke.
@connormcdougall2436
When I was a kid my parents took me on holiday camping trip which included a stop at Wittenoom Gorge. An absolutely stunning gorge with water so clear you could see straight through it. I also remember the blue asbestos rocks all around the place as well. My dad did explain the danger of it but assured me that it was only a dangerous risk in dust form (likely an understatement). Its such a shame about the health risks because the rocks are also really beautiful. It's like no other blue rock you've ever seen.
@tashholly3346
I've never heard of this, and I live in Australia. Absolutely devastating and disgusting that it was been covered up
@dk50b
I assumed this disaster was better known, having learned of it from Midnight Oil's 1990 song Blue Sky Mine. As an American, taking the time to unpack the lessons in their lyrics has been a master class in the real history and culture of Australia.
@rogerramjet6429
The entire state of Western Australia is covered with up to four types of asbestos, and in most situations its very safe, because its layered underground. Mining exposes it and makes it dry out causing it to become airborne. As someone trained to remove asbestos safely, i know of two companies that just buried the asbestos out of sight. One being Alcoa in 2008, and i know because I was on the removal team.
@YourPalKindred
Funny how 100-600 million is considered too expensive to clean up, but our government will regularly spend that much demolishing and rebuilding sport stadiums.
@aquaintsound
As an Indigenous American, just wanted to let people know that too many journalists ignore how Indigenous communities are impacted by hazards like these. Showing an indigenous elder speak for his community is exactly what Allyship (and good journalism) needs to do
@odpieces
The production quality of these videos is unreal, genuinely some of the best work on this website. And thanks for spreading stories from my country - the more people who hear about this kind of stuff the less likely it is to happen again
@caro.k2958
In 1979 we went on a high school-sponsored bus trip up to Broome. Along the way, we camped at Whittnoom and I can remember us playing sliding down the tailings. Teachers and tour guides did not mention that the site was dangerous at all. It is appalling that they still haven't cleared it up after all this time.
@johnxina987
The Western Australian government won't remediate the former town because it was complicit along with the former minesite owner, Colonial Sugar Refining Company of the contamination of the site. The government didn't legislate for CSR to adhere to any form of environmental controls during the operation of the mine and turned a blind eye as the contamination was being carried out. Now due to the prohibitive cost of remediation, the government have decided that an 'out of sight out of mind' approach is the best solution. If you were to contaminate a small area no larger than a single housing block without the government being complicit, they would prosecute you to the highest level, but when they're complicit in the process it's a different story, then it becomes okay.
@28russ
Maralinga was more like Australia's Chernobyl. That's were the Brits did nuclear weapons tests and left a bloody big radioactive mess in the desert in the north west of South Australia. If ya read this fern, then maybe ya could do an ep on that. On 27 September 1956 Britain conducted its first test at Maralinga. Britain conducted 12 major trials of nuclear devices across the three sites. Following on from the Korean War, the British nuclear weapons testing program was the most significant military event in Australia during the Cold War. Twelve atomic weapons were detonated in Australia, three at the Monte Bello Islands off north Western Australia and the remainder in the desert regions of South Australia, at Emu Field and Maralinga. Two major tests were carried out in secrecy at Maralinga in October 1956 called Operation Buffalo and Operation Antler. Hundreds of minor trials, mostly involving components of nuclear weapons, also took place in South Australia between 1953 and 1963. Treatment of traditional owners was extremely poor, and as a result many Aboriginal communities living in the areas which surrounded the Emu Field and Maralinga test sites experienced severe health problems
@StrikeWyvern
I heard "not radiation" and instantly thought "Hey Lois, asbestos!" That material is the 2nd fastest way to make everyone get outta town.
@gzell5556