Danger warning of burning stolen creosoted railway sleepers
05 July 2013
HUNDREDS of timber railway sleepers have been stolen from Melbourne's rail network and used as firewood, despite government health warnings and concerns they may contain traces of asbestos.
A large pile of timber railway sleepers lies next to the railway tracks near Toorak Road, Toorak, Australia. Metro Trains is replacing old red gum railway sleepers along the Glen Waverley line, but has been unable to stop the theft of wood stacked beside tracks and left unattended. A Metro Trains spokesman confirmed the railway sleepers had low-levels of hydro fluorocarbons from oil and grease, but denied the presence of any asbestos.
''Our own staff and contractors patrol the railway line and work with police to try and prevent any theft of the wooden railway sleepers, but unfortunately some are stolen. There is no evidence to suggest any health risk associated with railway sleepers,'' the spokesman said.
But the Victorian Department of Health has issued explicit warnings about burning railway sleepers, which can release harmful toxic fumes.
The Sunday Age spoke with a contractor employed by Metro Trains, who said he had been instructed not to sell the railway sleepers because they could contain a range of dangerous materials, including asbestos. He said much of the timber had been given to builders, who had used it to build retaining walls.
''We were told that it's completely safe as long as they're not cut or burnt. And that's what I've been telling people we give it to, but who knows what's happening with the stuff that's been pinched,'' the man said.
Firewood Association Australia secretary Alan McGeevy said he had received several complaints from people who had burnt the railway sleepers in open fires, barbecues and pizza ovens.
''What alerted us, was people calling saying ,'I'm burning this railway sleeper and I've got a bleeding nose and stinging eyes and feel like I've got asthma','' he said.
Mr McGeevy said some older railway sleepers had been exposed to asbestos that was used to line brakes in trains until the mid-'80s. ''If you're burning railway sleepers, the asbestos won't burn,'' Mr McGeevy said.
''It will congregate in the ash bed, so you have a perfect environment for that asbestos to get airborne. You don't need much to do a lot of damage.''
A spokesman for the Australian Rail Track Corporation would not confirm if it was aware of an asbestos risk with old railway sleepers, or who was liable for any injury that occurred from burning the timber.
''ARTC requires these contractors to meet all necessary state environmental legislation and to identify and mitigate potential environmental issues associated with the recovery and disposal of timber railway sleepers,'' the spokesman said.