Families facing NBN asbestos nightmare Pictured left is Troy and Kate Lancaster with their children Lachlan 15 months and Amy, 6. Pictured right is Matthew and Ann-Marie O'Farrell and their children Makayla, 6, and Chloe, 12 weeks / Pic: Matthew Sullivan Source: The Daily Telegraph A TOP executive at one of the companies tasked with rolling out the National Broadband Network has abruptly left - amid growing fears residents around the country have been exposed to asbestos. Service Stream executive general manager Stephen Ellich is believed to have parted company with the Telstra subcontractor after homes in Sydney's west were exposed to asbestos. Telstra last night confirmed its contract with Service Stream had been suspended, saying: "Leaving any asbestos at a site is completely unacceptable and that is why, when we were alerted to the situation in Penrith, we immediately shut down all works in the area, suspended the contractor and safely secured the sites. The safe and proper handling and disposal of asbestos is an absolute and not-negotiable priority. Two families are in temporary accommodation after their homes were covered in asbestos dust during Service Stream's remediation and refit of Telstra's pit and pipe infrastructure ahead of the NBN rollout. Hornseywood Ave resident Troy Lancaster last night said Telstra and Service Stream had put his family up at the Chifley Hotel in Penrith while the company "investigated the situation." "They just rocked up one day and started retrofitting asbestos pits to replace them with CVC pits," he said. They did it without notification, no masks, no gloves, no protective clothing, tents, nothing. We were left with asbestos all over our property, on the road and in the air. If even a single fibre reached the lungs of my kids, can you imagine what's going to happen in 20 years' time? It's a disgrace. Service Stream's contracts with Telstra are believed to be worth more than $420 million. Asbestos Diseases Foundation president Barry Robson said the problem "wasn't just limited to NSW," with asbestos advocates in South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria reporting similar problems. "The problem is it's the ... sub-contractors that are doing it on the cheap and are endangering lives," Mr Robson said. Unless something is done very quickly, there's going to be a lot of people around the country up in arms about this very soon. Service Stream and the NBN last night declined to comment. Telstra chief operations officer Brendon Riley said his company's number one priority was the safety of workers and the community. "We have stopped all new remediation work until the audit is completed," Mr Riley said. Where we have identified problems with the asbestos removal process we have suspended work immediately and are working with the local council and the relevant authorities to clean up the impacted sites as quickly as possible. Our approach to asbestos management is zero-risk.