The latest resident of ‘Australia’s Chernobyl’ has missed today’s deadline to leave, raising fears of a forced removal.
Lorraine Thomas lives in Wittenoom, the largest polluted industrial estate in the Southern Hemisphere, a former asbestos mining town that killed one in ten residents.
The Western Australian government told residents they had until August 31 to leave the city or they would have to be evicted by police under the Wittenoom Closure Act.
Previously, the deadline was set for mid-June, but documents show that it will not be extended a second time.
Lorainne’s daughter Aileen Thomas says the family has worked to remove many of its belongings from the house, but personal issues kept them from getting the job done.
Now she is afraid that the authorities will remove her by force.
“She’s quite ready to go. We just want a few more weeks to pick up the last bits and pieces, and I don’t see the problem with that, because the house is going to be abandoned anyway.’
Lorraine Thomas (above) is the last resident of Wittenoom and is forced to be evicted for missing the town’s move deadline
Wittenoom is the Southern Hemisphere’s largest contaminated industrial site with over 3 million tons of asbestos waste (above) from the former blue asbestos mine
The Wittenoom mine, which once exported blue asbestos to the world, was closed in 1966 and is blamed for the deaths of at least 2,000 workers and their families who inhaled the deadly fibres.
The Wittenoom asbestos mine was operated from 1943 to 1966 and killed more than 2,000 workers and residents (photo, workers bagging asbestos)
At its peak, Wittenoom was home to 20,000 residents and hosted fun events for locals, such as asbestos clearance contests (above)
Wittenoom is located approximately 300 km south of Port Hedland and 1400 km northeast of Perth in the iron ore rich Hamersley Range. The declared infected area is 50,000 hectares
Asbestos has been produced in the region since the 1920s and in April 1943 a mine was built by CSR in the Wittenoomkloof.
The government of Western Australia provided housing, a school, post office, hospital and police station, as well as water supply to the road connecting the road to the mine.
CSR built a hotel, shop, butcher, bakery, cafe, library and further accommodation. Wittenoom even had its own race track and organized events such as an asbestos shoveling competition.
About 7,000 workers toiled in the asbestos mining and grinding operation and 13,000 other residents, mostly women and children, lived in the city.
According to the Asbestos Diseases Society of Australia, the processed fiber was transported in open trucks to Point Samson, 330 km away.
The blue asbestos was then stored in sheds and loaded onto ships. About half of the Wittenoom production was sold abroad.
During its 23 years of operation, the Wittenoom mine has exported 150,000 tons of asbestos for export.
CSR closed the mine in December 1966, claiming a lack of profitability and falling asbestos prices. The following year, the extraction of blue asbestos was banned.
Absesto-related deaths of those living and working in Wittenoom were first recorded in the 1960s and the toll continues to rise.
Studies suggest that at least a quarter of the people who worked in the mine will eventually die of mesothelioma or another asbestos-related disease. CSR closed the mine in December 1966, claiming a lack of profitability and falling asbestos prices. The following year, the extraction of blue asbestos was banned.
Despite knowing that she will stay in the city every day, there is another day when she continues to inhale the deadly material, Mrs. Thomas and her family hope that the authorities will understand that she has to stay for a while.
“I just wish someone would have a little compassion and treat us with a little decency. It has been her house. Her husband is buried there in the cemetery.’
The closure of Wittenoom was announced in 2006 and introduced from 2013, Mrs Thomas is the last resident of the town (photo, the remaining houses in Wittenoom)
The town has been scratched off most maps and road signs pointing to it have been removed, instead the area in and around Wittenoom is covered with signs (above) warning that deadly asbestos is present
Desolate photos show that most of the houses that housed the city’s 20,000 residents have been demolished and replaced with warning signs.
The city has also been stripped of most of its maps and road signs which have been removed in an effort to prevent ‘dark tourists’ from visiting it.
Aileen said it’s these tourists that make her mother’s move pointless.
The Wittenoom asbestos mine, owned by CSR, was closed in 1966 after it became unprofitable and local residents suspected that it had health problems (photo, asbestos)
The mine (above) was the inspiration behind Midnight Oil’s hit Blue Sky Mine and has been marked as Australia’s worst human and environmental waste
“Regardless of who lives there, people will still move through the city or the area,” she said.
Ms. Thomas, along with all other evicted residents of Wittenoom, was paid $350,000 for moving.
Workers in the asbestos mine (above) worked without protection from the sharp and deadly fibers now known to cause cancer and serious respiratory disease
The town has become a popular spot for ‘dark tourists’ (above), frustrating Ms Thomson’s family, who feel there is no point in leaving
The Wittenoom mine killed more than 2,000 workers and residents of the city and at least a quarter of the 7,000 workers at the mine are expected to die from asbestos-related illness (photo, a worker at the Wittenoom mine)
The tragedy at Wittenoom inspired Midnight Oil’s hit Blue Sky Mine and has gone down in history as Australia’s worst human and environmental waste.
In December 2006, the Western Australian government announced that the town’s official status would be removed, and it was degazetted the following year.
A Wittenoom steering committee met in 2013 to finalize the closure of Wittenoom, restrict access to the city and raise awareness of the risks of entry.
In 2015, there were only six people in the city, then four in 2016 and two in 2020.
Mrs. Thomas will be the last inhabitant of the disaster area.