Asbestos scare linked to another NSW site With 5-8 million pits around the country - many with asbestos - Telstra has its work cut. Photo: Virginia Star Work to prepare for the rollout of the National Broadband Network has been linked to another asbestos incident in Sydney's west. Hawkesbury City Council confirmed that it responded to a complaint that contractors hired by Telstra had left an open bag of asbestos on a Bligh Park footpath on March 20. Asbestos is a giant scourge in this country It comes as Telstra has been accused of exposing the public to dangerous asbestos fibres in Penrith, forcing at least two families into temporary accommodation. Telstra said on Thursday it had halted all remediation work nationwide involving the asbestos-lined pits and the NBN rollout. Such work, which involves the replacement of decades-old equipment to make way for the NBN fibre, has been stopped until crews undertake further training on the removal, transportation and disposal of material containing asbestos. Federal Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten, meanwhile, said the government was calling a meeting with Telstra, unions and other stakeholders on Monday to discuss issues arising after the discovery of asbestos at several locations during works for the NBN rollout. The latest report involves work conducted along Sirius Road, a residential street between a high school and Bligh Park shops. Rachel, a resident who did not want to give her last name, said she was walking along the stretch of road with her two children when she noticed NBN workers removing asbestos from pits. "They had dug several holes and would go down into the holes all covered up and bring up bags saying "caution, asbestos," she said. Rachel said she noticed one of these bags left on the footpath had not been sealed. "I walked down with my baby and toddler and I was not impressed," she said. As soon as I saw the bag I became really worried and immediately crossed the road. Council response The council said it responded within 20 minutes, to find asbestos was being placed in bags after being removed from telecommunication pits. "The open asbestos bag was sealed by contractors when requested by council's compliance officers," it said in a statement. Appropriate safety measures were in place at the time of the inspection, it said. Contractors undertaking the work were wearing appropriate personal protective equipment for the removal of asbestos and material in the asbestos bags was wetted down to ensure the atmosphere was not polluted. But Rachel said she had not been notified that workers would be digging up asbestos, including directly in front of her house. A Telstra spokesman said on March 20 it had strict occupational health, safety and welfare procedures in place for the removal of asbestos "and this includes any remediation work we are carrying out on the network under the NBN agreements." "We have investigated the area and found no evidence of asbestos being left onsite," he said. Fiery meeting In another incident, Telstra has suspended Service Stream, the contractor involved in the Penrith asbestos scare in which asbestos was unearthed in Hornseywood Avenue, from further so-called remediation work on the Telstra copper pits. Separate clean-up crews from Service Stream, however, are continuing their work, a Telstra spokeswoman said. "We've got thousands of these pits across the country," the spokeswoman said. If it's dealt with in a proper way, there's no issue. About twenty officials and resident groups gathered in Penrith on Thursday evening to hear local concerns about inadequate treatment of asbestos dug up to make way for the NBN. One person at the event said residents from 20 homes in the suburb were concerned that Telstra had failed to cover properly the pits or mark them out for the public to avoid. A Telstra official told the meeting that the country has between 5 to 8 million pits, many of them built with asbestos lining. Telstra is conducting an audit of asbestos management for all its contractors and has set up a team of 200 specialists to inspect and supervise all remediation work once it resumes. The widening anxiety about asbestos and Telstra contractors has also resulted in complaints from the public over standard maintenance operations where no construction work is involved. A spokesperson for WorkCover NSW said it is continuing to investigate the removal of telecom pits on Evans Street and Hornseywood Avenue, Penrith that were constructed of asbestos materials. The main responsibility, though, lies with Comcare, the federal work, health and safety regulator. "WorkCover has been notified of proposed asbestos removal work which will be conducted by a licensed asbestos removalist and is working closely with Comcare and Penrith City Council to ensure the safety of workers and the community," the spokesperson said. Based on the information provided to NSW Health by WorkCover NSW, NSW Health advises that, although this incident is unfortunate, it appears that the risk to public health is low. Comcare notice Comcare on May 2 issued a prohibition notice halting work in the western Sydney suburb of Greenacre because of separate asbestos concerns. Bankstown City Council was told the site was made safe on May 2 and cleaned up several days later - but only after the council pursued Telstra for days to determine what was going on. "Even though these pits are not Council's responsibility, we believe Telstra should, as a courtesy, at least inform us so we can make our residents aware of any concerns, if there are any," a spokesman for Bankstown said. "While there may not have been on this occasion, under the present reporting arrangements - which are non existent - we wouldn't know and this concerns us greatly," he said. The issue is not restricted to NSW, with reports from Tasmania, South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia of asbestos being improperly processed during work to build the NBN. It is understood that Telstra has investigated at least one complaint, at Mount Clear near Ballarat in Victoria, where asbestos was reported to have been left exposed in broken bags. A probe found the claim was false and appropriate procedures followed. Fairfax Regional Media, though, reported that a staff member at the project said the asbestos was dumped on May 17 and left for a weekend. The site where the asbestos was left is close to the Mount Clear Primary School, and local residents were angry over the apparent lapse in safety standards. Calls to the school were directed to the state's education department. Fund for workers Minister said he's sympathetic to the setting up of a fund for workers potentially exposed to asbestos found in pipes and pits owned by Telstra. ""Asbestos is a giant scourge in this country. We can't afford to be complacent,"" Mr Shorten told reporters in Melbourne. Unions have called for a fund to be set up, similar to one established for James Hardy workers, and Mr Shorten said this would be discussed at Monday's meeting. Establishing a register for anyone that may have been exposed and conducting an audit and removal of asbestos in pits involved in the NBN rollout would also be discussed, Mr Shorten said. The government would also seek a commitment from Telstra that they would not walk away from any claims made by workers who may have been exposed to asbestos, he said. ""We're calling all the stakeholders together on Monday to make sure the voices of everyone that is concerned are not swept under the carpet,"" he said. The Office of Asbestos Safety had also been tasked with co-ordinating a national response to the incidents. With Peter Hannam, and AAP