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Caption: WITTENOOM | WA Blue Sky Mine
Caption: Wittenoom is located 1100 kms north of the West Australian capital, Perth. It's a beautiful little town that, in the 1940s - 1960's was thriving. The problem is that it was thriving because of the blue asbestos mine. Blue asbestos is one of the deadliest forms of the fibres, and can cause mesothelioma, asbestosis, and lung cancer.
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Caption: Myself and a producer travelled to the town to shoot a TV segment on a couple of the residents that still live in the there despite the government degazetting Wittenoom in 2007. All road signs with the name were removed and all services have been cut off. No power or water runs to the town. The government insists that area is still contaminated with the asbestos fibres in their deadly, invisible form. The residents disagree.... We played it safe and went 'Heisenberg' for the shoot.
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Caption: Shooting like this for a full day was quite unpleasant... Please note my super cool looking lens belt
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Caption: All of that gravel behind Pete, one of the 3 permanent residents, is actually asbestos tailings left behind when the mine closed in 1966. More than 2000 former residents and workers have already lost their lives to asbestos related disease. The development of disease can happen 20-70 years after exposure so that number is climbing every day.
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