The aboriginal town of Baryulgil faces devastation from fatal cancers and lung diseases, says a new study which predicts that virtually every local family will be touched.

An article in The Australian notes that a report ordered by James Hardie Corporation, the company responsible for the exposure, predicts that more than 10 percent of the New South Wales north coast community of Baryulgil will contract asbestos disease, on top of the 10 percent who have already died or become ill. But lawyers representing Baryulgil residents point out that recent medical tests performed on miners and other area residents show a far greater number of individuals have already displayed evidence of asbestos disease.

An asbestos scandal has long surrounded Baryulgil, where mining took place from 1942 until 1979. A 1984 federal parliamentary report demonstrated that Hardie dodged health regulations and was still exposing its workers to unlawful levels of asbestos when it sold the mine in 1976, despite the fact that the company was aware of the dangers of exposure.

The parliamentary inquiry heard evidence from a former mine manager who reported that the dust levels at the plant were so high that “when you walked in it was impossible to see anywhere”. He estimated that adequate dust control would have cost between $70,000 and $80,000, but noted that Hardie did not regard it as “a worthwhile expenditure.”

Hardie initially excluded the people of Baryulgil from its $1.5billion asbestos compensation package, a move that angered advocates for asbestos victims worldwide. However, the company reconsidered after The Australian newspaper revealed that the aboriginal community would be the only Australians excluded.

According to the report, 28 claimants from Baryulgil have filed and settled lawsuits against Hardie’s former asbestos mining subsidiaries thus far. Lawyers for the aboriginal community, however, say they plan to file dozens more suits on behalf of the 100+ individuals who show signs of asbestos-related diseases.

Most Baryulgil men who were of working age during the mining years were employed in some way or another at the Hardie mine. However, the mining company also deposited tailings on local roads and other locations including the school playground, exposing the entire community to asbestos.

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