Asbestos in garden soil. Advice please :(

Hi all, my husband I have just spent around $80K completely renovating a house we bought with plans to raise our first baby in it and stay for at least five years. We made sure to only look at properties built after 1990 and even though it was built in 1994 I requested an asbestos check with the building inspection before buying and it came back negative.

The very last thing on our renovation list was to replace the dilapidated timber fence with Colorbond. When we came home after the job was done, we noticed bits of “cracked tiles” scattered along the boundary and have since been advised that it is asbestos due to the golf ball dimples at the back. Further, an asbestos inspector came yesterday and noticed heaps of broken bits are scattered all along the neighbour’s side of the fence. He will be sending the sample test results and a report with recommendations in a few days.

Just wondering if anyone has gone through something similar and can advise how they fixed asbestos contaminated soil and roughly how much it cost? I’m 6 months pregnant and have only ever lived in new estates prior to this but buying and renovating an older house was the only way we could afford to upsize. Never dealt with asbestos before so I find it terrifying and I’m worried especially about my baby and my dog. Thanks in advance for any helpful responses

 

Sounds like someone may have replaced an old asbestos fence at some point without disposing of all the broken bits and chunks or the asbestos buried below the ground.
when a new hole is dug for the posts its all broken up.
We noticed in a laneway where one of the properties had replaced an asbestos or supersix fence with a colourbond fence and there was lots of small pieces of debris left everywhere on the laneway side, all just left lying in the sand
I wonder if they only clean up the side that they were working from , and if its out of sight and no one complains , it just left there.

 

First, don’t worry! This is really common.

I have found bits when digging up my garden. Asbestos is actually safe to eat - it’s just the dust you shouldn’t breath in.

The great thing about bits in soil is that they are often damp (which keeps any fibers from blowing around. The other good thing is that asbestos cement isn’t 100% asbestos - sometimes as low as 3% from memory and it is contained in the cement.

It’s not good to break it or drill it as that releases dust - but released in the open air is probably safer than inside your house!

What I do when I find pieces in my garden is:
1. spray gently with water from a spray bottle, then wearing a P2 mask (about $10 for two from Bunnings) I put it in two ziplock bags or a bit of plastic and seal it.

2. I gather them up in a container over time and then will then take them to an asbestos disposal place. Though you could pay someone to do this part.

Another option - having all the soil removed, will be very expensive - and probably not really warranted.

When I was more worried about it, I had some soil tested (soil from around a couple of pieces I found). The pieces were asbestos cement, but the soil wasn’t contaminated - though perhaps I just scooped up the clean bits?

I do tend to wear a mask when ever I dig dry sandy soil - just in case! But that’s mostly me being a worry wart!

And in the area, where I found quite a lot of piecesI have planted a gracilis clumping bamboo hedge so it’s covered in mulch and won’t need any digging.

 

I assume that the pieces were dug up - once these are cleaned up and grass or pavers laid, surely the kids won’t be playing in it?

 

Excavating to 1m depth and disposal of all of the spoil isn't cheap. Is it a heavily unionised site?

Picking up the pieces as per @Joynz makes alot more sense. Wet down your yard before picking up the individual pieces.

 

@The Y-man definitely not a cheap exercise. Plenty of different contaminated sites around like saw mills (arsenic compounds), industrial sites (heavy metals), Meth labs. I've even come across police stations with lead contamination (lost bullets).

 

When I had a site decontaminated a few years ago, our contractor said that a lot of people would/did not know that asbestos was in their back yards, under the turf, under concrete, ...

One common example he gave was a tree branch drops on a supersix (asbestos) fence in time gone by, people would pick up the larger pieces and that was it. Grass grows, garden sheds installed, ...

 

Thank you for your replies. I’ve been reading up on it all evening and am surprised at how common it is. I’m trying to panic less (I wanted to put the house up for sale earlier today even though we just finished renovating lol) but just so disappointed as I thought after the fence replacement we would be finished with all of the work and expenses. Thanks again

 

Hi Joynz, thanks in particular for your detailed reply and tips on dealing with this issue, it’s at least a bit reassuring to know that it’s common and that houses are still liveable in when this happens.

 

If it was unliveable, then no-one would live in Camellia, Rosehill, Silverwater etc.

 

True. I’m just a worry wart and so new to renovating, plus all of the articles online make asbestos sound so terrifying, so I initially thought I had no choice but to sell right now for a massive loss lol

 

Asbestos chunks are safe if handled gently and kept moist as a precaution. And as others have said asbestos contaminated soil is very common so don't worry.
I would wet the soil, don a mask and dig through / turn over the top 50cm layer of soil along the fence. Pick out any pieces you find and collect them in a heavy duty plastic bag that you seal and bring to the local tip when finished. Keep wetting the soil occasionally to keep it moist while you work.

This is the method I have been recommended by a council environmental health officer who deals with the stuff daily. You might want to call your local council yourself and get their advice too.

 

Thank you @Rex, yes I think that might be the best way to go about it. I’ll probably pay an asbestos removalist to do it just to be extra safe.

 

It is illegal to dump asbestos waste in a non-asbestos approved tip. Must be bagged in 20 micron plastic and based again in the same. Labelled " Contains asbestos "

 

I think that is a great method for a more thorough cleaning. However, if it’s going to be turfed or paved, I wouldn’t dig - just pick up all the visible bits. That means you don’t disturb more than necessary.

I found that when I dug in my soil, picking up any pieces I saw, when the soil dried out there were always a few bits I had missed sitting on top! Very frustrating at the time.

Turns out that it was because the cement darkens when damp and becomes more visible when dry.

 

Let us know how you go with quotes etc.

 

Thanks again, you’ve helped me stress significantly less about it, and yep I will keep you updated. Hopefully this thread helps others that are yet to come across this and freak out like I did!

 

How about building a raised garden bed along the fence with sleepers, then backfill 200mm of new dirt and plant a degenor something