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Wittenoom is a former town and a declared contaminated site, north-north-east of
Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
, in the
Hamersley Range The Hamersley Range is a mountainous region of the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The range was named on 12 June 1861 by explorer Francis Thomas Gregory after Edward Hamersley, a prominent promoter of his exploration expedition to the ...
in the
Pilbara The Pilbara () is a large, dry, sparsely populated regions of Western Australia, region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Indigenous Australians, Aboriginal people; wealth disparity; its ancient landscapes; the prevailing r ...
region of Western Australia. The declared contaminated site comprises , making it the largest contaminated site in the southern hemisphere, an area nearly the size of the
Chernobyl exclusion zone The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Zone of Alienation, also called the 30-Kilometre Zone or simply The Zone, was established shortly after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in the Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union. Initially, Soviet authorities declar ...
area. The
Government of Western Australia The Government of Western Australia is the States and territories of Australia, Australian state democratic administrative authority of Western Australia. It is also commonly referred to as the WA Government or the Western Australian Governmen ...
"strongly advises against ''all'' travel through Wittenoom and the surrounding areas." The area around Wittenoom was mainly pastoral until the 1930s when mining for blue asbestos began. By 1939, major mining began in Yampire Gorge, which was closed in 1943 when mining began in Wittenoom Gorge. In 1947, a
company town A company town is a place where all or most of the stores and housing in the town are owned by the same company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schoo ...
was built and, during the 1950s, it was the Pilbara's largest town. The peak population, as recorded by the Australian census conducted on 30 June 1961, was 881 (601 males and 280 females). During the 1950s and early 1960s, Wittenoom was Australia's only supplier of blue asbestos. The mine was shut down in 1966 due to its unprofitability, and growing health concerns from asbestos mining in the area. Wittenoom Gorge Airport served as part of the routes that
MMA Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...
and Airlines (WA) operated on for bringing workers and supplies in and out of the asbestos mine. It later closed as being one of the health concerns as runways were made of gravel and asbestos tailings. The former townsite no longer receives government services. In December 2006, the
Government of Western Australia The Government of Western Australia is the States and territories of Australia, Australian state democratic administrative authority of Western Australia. It is also commonly referred to as the WA Government or the Western Australian Governmen ...
announced that the town's official status would be removed and, in June 2007, Jon Ford, the Minister for Regional Development, announced that the townsite had officially been degazetted. The town's name was removed from official maps and road signs, and the
Shire of Ashburton The Shire of Ashburton is one of the four Local government areas of Western Australia, local government areas in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, covering an area of . It is named after the Ashburton River (Western Australia), Ashburton ...
is able to close roads that lead to contaminated areas. The Wittenoom steering committee met in April 2013 to finalise closure of the town, limit access to the area, and raise awareness of the risks. Details of how that would be achieved were to be determined but it would probably necessitate removing the town's remaining residents, converting freehold land to
crown land Crown land, also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. Today, in Commonwealth realm ...
, demolishing houses, and closing or rerouting roads. By 2015, six residents remained. In 2017, the number had dropped to four, to three in 2018, and to two in 2021. , Wittenoom had no remaining residents, and demolition of remaining structures by the Western Australian Government began in May 2023.


Name

Wittenoom was named by Lang Hancock after Frank Wittenoom, his partner in the nearby Mulga Downs Station. The land around Wittenoom was originally settled by Wittenoom's brother, politician Sir Edward Horne Wittenoom. By the late 1940s, there were calls for a government townsite near the mine, and the Mines Department recommended it be named Wittenoom, advising that adoption of that name was strongly urged by the local people. The name was approved in 1948, but it was not until 2 May 1950 that the townsite was officially gazetted. In 1951, the name was changed to Wittenoom Gorge at the request of the mining company but, in 1974, it was changed back to Wittenoom. The mine closed in 1966, and the official abolition of the town was gazetted in March 2007.


Religion

In 1968, Wittenoom was one of only two
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
parishes in the
Pilbara The Pilbara () is a large, dry, sparsely populated regions of Western Australia, region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Indigenous Australians, Aboriginal people; wealth disparity; its ancient landscapes; the prevailing r ...
.


History

The area was originally resided on by the Panyjima, also known as the Banjima, an Aboriginal Australian people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia. They hold Native Title over the area. In 1917, the Mines Department first recorded the presence of blue asbestos in the Hamersley Ranges. In the early 1930s, Lang Hancock discovered Wittenoom Gorge, on the Mulga Downs property. In 1937, Hancock showed samples of blue asbestos (
crocidolite Riebeckite is a sodium-rich member of the amphibole group of silicate minerals, chemical formula Na2(Fe2+3Fe3+2)Si8O22(OH)2. It forms a solid solution series with magnesioriebeckite. It crystallizes in the monoclinic system, usually as long prism ...
) that he had picked up in the Gorge to Islwyn Walters and Walter Leonard, who were mining and treating white asbestos at Nunyerrie, and at Lionel near Nullagine. When Hancock learned the fibre would fetch £70 per ton, he immediately pegged the best claims in Wittenoom Gorge. Leo Snell, a kangaroo shooter on Mulga Downs, pegged a claim on Yampire Gorge, where there was a lot more blue asbestos. Walters and Leonard purchased Yampire Gorge from Snell, moved their treatment plant there, and began mining and treating the fibre. When Leonard cabled London that of asbestos in sight at Yampire Gorge, they cabled him back saying he should take a holiday. Leonard had to send a photograph before it was believed Yampire Gorge contained that much asbestos. Walters and Leonard cleared the way into Yampire Gorge by blasting the biggest rocks and pulling them out of the way with a camel team. Even after that, it took them seven hours to drive their lorry the from the workings to their treatment plant. By 1940, twenty-two men were employed at the Yampire Gorge workings and about 375 tons were mined and transported by mule team wagons to the coast at Point Samson. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, communications with England became difficult, and de Berrales acquired an interest in the mines. In 1943, the Colonial Sugar Company, through its subsidiary, Australian Blue Asbestos Ltd., took over both the Wittenoom and Yampire Mines. Lang Hancock, who watched his station property transform to a town, stated in 1958: "Izzy Walters was the man who stuck it and produced the market that made Wittenoom of today possible." Walter's partner, Len Leonard, put it this way in 1958: "but for his (Islwyn Walters) sheer grit and hard work there would be no such thing as Wittenoom. We have him to thank for that." Due to a lack of profitability however, the mine at Wittenoom was closed in 1966. As of 2024, more than 2,000 of the approximately 20,000 former mine workers and residents of Wittenoom had died of
asbestos-related diseases Asbestos-related diseases are disorders of the lung and pleura caused by the inhalation of asbestos fibres. Asbestos-related diseases include non-malignant disorders such as asbestosis (pulmonary fibrosis due to asbestos), diffuse pleural thicke ...
.


Closing of the town

As of 2016, Wittenoom had only three permanent residents who defied the
Government of Western Australia The Government of Western Australia is the States and territories of Australia, Australian state democratic administrative authority of Western Australia. It is also commonly referred to as the WA Government or the Western Australian Governmen ...
's announced intention to remove services, disconnect electric power, compulsorily acquire the remaining privately-owned properties and demolish the town. There were still three residents in late 2018 and in September 2022, the last resident was evicted. In November 2006, a report by consultants
GHD Group GHD Group Pty Ltd (formerly known as Gutteridge Haskins & Davey) is a global employee-owned multinational technical professional services firm providing advisory, architecture and design, buildings, digital, energy and resources, environmental ...
and
Parsons Brinckerhoff WSP USA, formerly Parsons Brinckerhoff, is an American multinational engineering and design firm. The firm operates in the fields of strategic consulting, planning, engineering, construction management, energy, infrastructure and community plann ...
evaluated the continuing risks associated with asbestos contamination in the town and surrounding areas, classing the danger to visitors as medium and to residents as extreme. In December 2006, Minister for the Pilbara and Regional Development, Jon Ford, said that Wittenoom's status as a town would be removed and, in June 2007, he announced that the townsite status had been officially removed. Both the Department of Health and an accredited contaminated sites auditor reviewed the report, with the latter finding that the detected presence of free asbestos fibres in surface soils from sampled locations presented an unacceptable public health risk. The auditor recommended that the former townsite and other impacted areas defined in the report be classified as "Contaminated - Remediation Required". On 28 January 2008, the Department of Environment and Conservation classified Wittenoom as a contaminated site under the Contaminated Sites Act 2003. However, opinion is not unanimous on the danger posed. Mark Nevill, a geologist and former
Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...
MLC for the Mining and Pastoral district, said in an interview in 2004 that the asbestos levels in the town were below the detection level of most equipment, and the real danger was located in the gorge itself which contains the mine
tailings In mining, tailings or tails are the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction (gangue) of an ore. Tailings are different from overburden, which is the waste rock or other material ...
. Residents once operated a camping ground, guest house and gem shop for passing tourists. The roof of the gem shop is now caved in and the wood of the guest house is rotten, while the camping ground is nowhere to be found. It was reported in 2018 that thousands of travellers still visited the ghost town every year, as a form of
extreme tourism Extreme tourism, also often referred to as danger tourism or shock tourism (although these concepts do not appear strictly similar) is a niche in the tourism industry involving travel to dangerous places (mountains, jungles, deserts, caves, can ...
. The Wittenoom Closure Bill was reintroduced to the
Western Australian Parliament The Parliament of Western Australia is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Western Australia, which constitutes the legislative branch of the state's political system. The parliament consists of the King (represented by the gov ...
in August 2021, and was passed on 24 March 2022. The bill enabled the compulsory acquisition and demolition of the 14 remaining privately-owned properties in the former townsite. The
traditional owners Native title is the set of rights, recognised by Australian law, held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups or individuals to land that derive from their maintenance of their traditional laws and customs. These Aboriginal title rig ...
of country where Wittenoom is situated, the Panyjima people, have petitioned the Western Australian Parliament to not only remove all of Wittenoom's remaining buildings, but to remediate the land so that it is no longer contaminated. The Wittenoom Closure Bill was passed by the Western Australian Parliament in March 2022, allowing the government to permanently close Wittenoom by compulsorily acquiring the remaining private properties and remove all infrastructure from the town. In September 2022, the last resident was evicted. As of September 2022, the town was classified as deserted, and closed to the public. A bushfire reportedly hit the area around 26 December 2022, causing damage to remaining buildings and disrupting plans to demolish the site during the 2023 dry season.


Legacy

The 1990
Midnight Oil Midnight Oil (known informally as "The Oils") are an Australian rock band composed of Peter Garrett (vocals, harmonica), Rob Hirst (drums), Jim Moginie (guitar, keyboard) and Martin Rotsey (guitar). The group was formed in Sydney in 1972 by H ...
song, " Blue Sky Mine" and the group's album, '' Blue Sky Mining'', was inspired by the town and its mining industry, as were ''He Fades Away'' and ''Blue Murder'' by
Alistair Hulett Alistair Hulett (15 October 1951 – 28 January 2010) was a Scottish people, Scottish acoustic music, acoustic folk music, folk singer best known as the singer of the folk punk band, Roaring Jack. Early life Born in Glasgow, Hulett discovered tr ...
. The town and its history are also featured in the novel
Dirt Music ''Dirt Music'' is a 2001 novel by Tim Winton. A 2002 Man Booker Prize shortlisted novel and winner of the 2002 Miles Franklin Award, it has been translated into Russian, French, German, Dutch, and Swedish. The harsh, unyielding climate of W ...
by
Tim Winton Timothy John Winton (born 4 August 1960) is an Australian writer. He has written novels, children's books, non-fiction books, and short stories. In 1997, he was named a Living Treasure by the National Trust of Australia, and has won the ...
. Digital poet Jason Nelson created the work ''Wittenoom: speculative shell and the cancerous breeze'', an interactive exploration of the town's death. It won the
Newcastle Poetry Prize The Newcastle Poetry Prize is an annual Australian award for Australian poetry, administered by Hunter Writers' Centre, which has been awarded since 1981, when it was first established as the Mattara Poetry Prize. The Prize began in September 1980 ...
in 2009. In the thriller novel ''The Dead Heart'', by Douglas Kennedy, the plot involves an imaginary location called ''Wollanup'', which corresponds to Wittenoom. ''The Dead Heart'' was adapted as a comic by Kennedy and the illustrator Christian de Metter, under the title ''Dead Heart''.


See also

* Love Canal, New York *
Picher, Oklahoma Picher is a ghost town and former city in Ottawa County, Oklahoma, Ottawa County, northeastern Oklahoma, United States. It was a major national center of lead and zinc mining for more than 100 years in the heart of the Tri-State district, Tri ...
*
Times Beach, Missouri Times Beach is a ghost town in St. Louis County, Missouri, St. Louis County, Missouri, United States, southwest of St. Louis, Missouri, St. Louis and east of Eureka, Missouri, Eureka. Once home to more than two thousand people, the town was co ...
*
Cassiar, British Columbia Cassiar is a ghost town in British Columbia, Canada. It was a small company-owned asbestos mining town located in the Cassiar Mountains of Northern British Columbia north of Dease Lake. History The discovery of asbestos in the area in 1950 l ...
* Plymouth, Montserrat * Clinton Creek *
Centralia, Pennsylvania Centralia ( ) is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough and near-ghost town in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. Its population declined from 1,000 in 1980 to five residents in 2020 because a Cent ...


Notes


References


Bibliography

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Further reading

*


External links


Wittenoom: Asbestos contamination and management
(Western Australian Government)

{{authority control Ghost towns in the Pilbara Mining towns in Western Australia Company towns in Australia 1950 establishments in Australia Hamersley Range 2007 disestablishments in Australia Environmental disaster ghost towns 2007 in the environment Shire of Ashburton Asbestos mines