01 June 2017
Asbestos, which was stored in shipping containers, has now been buried in a specially lined cell at La Collette.
Specialist contractors, Rhodar, working on behalf of the Department for Infrastructure (DfI), have been moving the asbestos from the shipping containers, according to strict health and safety regulations and working conditions, to a nearby cell for storage.
There was a full-time asbestos consultant on site at all times to oversee the work, which started at the beginning of the year and their contract has now just been completed, ahead of time and under budget at just over £1m.
The 290 containers had been amassed since 1997 when storage at La Collette first started and until February 2016 when containers ceased to be used and the specially packaged asbestos received at La Collette went straight for burial.
About 2,500 tonnes of asbestos were taken out of the containers and this was specially packaged before being buried in the cell.
The empty containers themselves have been broken down for recycling.
Throughout the site works there was strict and successful adherence with:
- Health and Safety (Management in Construction) (Jersey) Regulations 2016
- Health & Safety at Work (Jersey) Law 1989
- Asbestos-Licensing (Jersey) Regulations 2008
Minister for Infrastructure, Deputy Eddie Noel, said “This is quite a milestone for me as Minister and for the Department. We have finally managed to get rid of the containers of asbestos which were such an eyesore for the last 20 years and were not sustainable in the longer term.”
Deputy Steve Luce, Minister of the Environment, added “I'm very grateful for the Minister's ongoing efforts to finally get this hazardous stockpile of asbestos removed from sight and, more importantly, from being an environmental risk. I've tried for a long time to make this area safe, and Deputy Noel has finally achieved something that should have been done many years ago."
gov.je