Australian Government Will Compensate Residents of Mr. Fluffy Homes

In a landmark decision, the Commonwealth of Australia has offered the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) a concessional loan of $1 billion to mitigate the catastrophic aftermath caused by the notorious Mr. Fluffy insulation product that contained deadly asbestos. The Mr. Fluffy insulation company pumped loose-filled asbestos into the roofing spaces of more than 1,000 homes across the ACT during the 1970s. The company marketed the product as "Asbestosfluf" because of its fluffy appearance. A 1980s government-funded cleanup operation failed to completely remove the asbestos product from those homes in Canberra. Officials in recent months discovered traces of the deadly mineral in the inner walls and crevices of some of those houses and declared them uninhabitable. Exposure to asbestos causes cancer such as mesothelioma. Australia already has high incidence of mesothelioma because of the country's extensive use of asbestos. Government funds purchase and demolition of Mr. Fluffy homes ACT officials will use the loan to fund a massive "buy back and demolish" program scheduled to commence January 2015. The ACT will buy the homes from their owners, and repay up to 70 percent of the loan by selling some of the cleared blocks of land. The program will demolish 200 homes annually over the next five years. ACT Residents Warned of Asbestos in Homes Earlier this year, some Canberra homeowners received letters warning them that their homes likely con...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: Asbestos Exposure & Bans Source Type: news