Asbestos for farmers
The National Farmers Union are concerned by the cost of the new regulations governing the disposal of white asbestos cement, used in many thousands of post-war farm buildings. Until 2006 white asbestos cement could still be disposed of by burying it or using it as rubble for farm tracks. But since then farmers have had to pay up to £400 a ton to have it removed to a hazardous waste site (95 per cent of which have been closed down under an EU directive). A recent study has shown that more than 50,000 farms have buildings containing asbestos cement, many of which will have to be replaced in coming years. For an average quantity of 300 tons, the cost of disposal would be £120,000 per farm - and the total bill about £6 billion.
Many farmers want an amendment to the HSE’s interpretation of EU law, returning the situation to where it was in 2006 years ago, so that white asbestos cement need not be disposed of at crippling expense. They cite as precedent a change of the law in 2005, when the Environment Agency allowed that road “planings”, which are removed when roads are resurfaced, could be used to repair farm tracks instead of having, under EU law, to be landfilled.
This is not going to happen as the risk factors across the different “colours” of asbestos are virtually identical. The HSE remains adamant that white asbestos is far too dangerous for the law to be changed. As a result many farmers are dangerously non-compliant with the law leaving themselves open to both criminal and civil charges.
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