November 14th, 2006

Bags of dumped asbestos sheets have been found at a demolition site in Northern Ireland, with over fifty sheets that were tied up and dumped in plastic bags at the site in Dundonald. One official stated that the asbestos sheets appeared to have come from a building that had been demolished more than a year ago.

Local council officers visited the area to inspect the problem, and have stated that the asbestos sheets will need to be removed by specialists. However, a local businessman has stated that no warnings have been put up to notify people of the dangers, and that children are still playing around the site.

He stated: "I was shocked because I have been working beside this and as I say it has been left lying there for a year and it is right beside my shop." Officials from the Health and Safety Executive have stated that the asbestos will be removed and taken to a licensed site.

Officials added that the problem had only recently been discovered and that specialist assistance would need to be hired in order to get it removed because council workers were not licensed to carry out the removals themselves.