Dr. Walker asks the Minister for Lands to consider hemp trials for asbestos remediation in Wittenoom. The Minister acknowledges the question and states remediation of the entire area is unlikely and will be considered by the Wittenoom Steering Committee.

AnsweredQoN 758Legislative Council
Asked
8 August 2023
Portfolio
Lands

QuestionView source ↗

HEMP — ASBESTOS
CONTAMINATION
758. Hon Dr BRIAN WALKER to the minister representing the
Minister for Lands:
I refer the minister to the response
I received to question 580 asked on Thursday, 18 May 2023 concerning the
phyto-remedial properties of hemp and its potential to assist in the clean-up
of asbestos contamination.
Given the open-mindedness of the Department of Water and
Environmental Regulation to the science —
(1) Will the
minister consider inviting researchers to undertake small-scale trials on the
edges of Wittenoom in the first instance to see whether growing hemp crops on
that contaminated land can effectively degrade asbestos contamination over
time?
(2) If not, why not?

AnswerView source ↗

I thank the honourable member for
some notice of this question.
(1)–(2) The
Wittenoom asbestos management area covers more than 46 000 hectares. It is
unlikely to be technically feasible to remediate the total area from
contamination, and this will be considered by the Wittenoom Steering Committee,
which includes the Banjima Native Title Aboriginal Corporation.

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