Residents worried about naturally occurring asbestos on unsealed roads
Len Elliott lives on an unsealed road in central west NSW, so dust is a fact of life.
"Our kids bring it into the house, it's on our clothes, circulates in our air conditioning," he said.
"We see the dust come in over our houses, over our yards where our kids play."
But irritation turned to genuine concern after asbestos was discovered in local road materials during a nearby highway upgrade in 2025.
"The risk was people inhaling asbestos fibres in the road dust," Mr Elliot said.
Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral, but when disturbed its fibres can become airborne and cause lung cancers and fibrosis.
Len Elliot wants to rule out any risk of asbestos fibres in dust on several roads in Orange. (ABC Central West: Micaela Hambrett)
Mr Elliott discovered he lived in a naturally occurring asbestos (NOA) corridor that had been mapped and made publicly available via the NSW government's Sharing and Enabling Environement Data (SEED) map.
"I entered asbestos [into the SEED map] and I saw the corridor that runs right through Orange."
Concerns raised with council
Mr Elliott approached law firm Slater and Gordon, which took on his concerns pro bono.
In September it wrote to Orange City Council to request testing on four roads with significant erosion and classified in government mapping as having medium-to-high NOA risk.
"Obviously, residents are concerned about a significant health risk associated with naturally occurring asbestos in the Orange area," Slater and Gordon senior associate Kirsty Ruddock said.
"We thought it was really important that we ensure that the council take preventative action here."
Asbestos was discovered in road materials used to build Orange's Northern Distributor Road in 2025. (ABC Central West: Micaela Hambrett)
The council said there was no evidence to suggest the roads were affected, but that it would investigate the concern.
"[One of the roads mentioned] is some distance from the known NOA areas to the east of the City," an Orange City Council spokesperson said in a statement.
"However, given concerns raised by residents, Council will review the matter and have [sic] advised residents' legal representatives of that review."
Asbestos belt
About 1 per cent of the NSW land mass hosts seams of NOA, which is created when molten rock is infused with water at depth.
Naturally occurring asbestos was once mined for use in construction and engineering products due to its heat and water resistance, before being outlawed in 2003.
The NSW government has mapped the presence of naturally occurring asbestos in the state via its Sharing and Enabling Environmental Data (SEED) map. (Source: NSW Govt)
In the central west, a belt of host rock known as serpentinite snakes south from Wellington through Orange and Blayney before winding up at the small village of Rockley, south of Bathurst.
Occupational hygienist and asbestos assessor Juliet Duffy has lent her expertise to Orange City Council since NOA was mapped in the area more than 20 years ago.
"Even though you might [live in] a high-risk area it may be at depth, it may be sealed or it might be in a non-fibrous form," she said.
Ms Duffy said it was when NOA was disturbed, crushed or pulverised that microscopic, carcinogenic fibres would potentially be released.
"It's only when we disturb it that you risk inhalation of fibres," she said.
Ms Duffy said it was difficult to link NOA directly to poor health outcomes given "co-contributing factors" like smoking, historical land disturbance and the delayed onset of asbestos-related diseases.
"Through urbanisation and development, a lot of this material has been disturbed without people's knowledge,"
she said.
"It's very hard to relate it back to where you were and what triggered the onset of mesothelioma or lung cancer or asbestosis."
A seam of asbestos can be seen running through these rocks located in the NOA corridor near Orange, central west NSW. (ABC Central West: Micaela Hambrett)
Ms Duffy said education was the key to managing risks associated with asbestos, especially for those living in an NOA corridor.
"Know what these products and what the raw material looks like," she said.
"So if you see something you can raise a concern and then seek to manage it safely."
Quarries shuttered
The legal letter to council also flagged concern over three quarries in Orange which had supplied road materials to the region before being sealed and shuttered roughly 15 years ago.
"Our clients are concerned the NOA may be present in the road base used to build [their] roads," the letter said.
Several quarries in Orange are located in medium to high risk asbestos areas and no longer operate. (ABC Central West: Micaela Hambrett)
Mr Elliott said the implications of road material mined at these quarries containing NOA could be widespread.
"There is a total of 43.4 kilometres of unsealed road potentially all built and maintained by these same quarries and they need to be tested," he said.
"We're not asking that the roads be sealed, we're asking that they'd be tested to show that people are safe in their homes."
Occupational hygienist Juliet Duffy says it is important people know what naturally occurring asbestos looks like. (ABC Central West: Micaela Hambrett)
Orange City Council said in a statement that it had more than 22 years experience evaluating NOA in the region.
"If NOA were to be discovered it would be dealt with on a case by case basis," a spokesperson said.
"Advice on treatment options would be sought from a qualified occupational hygienist."
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