It’s specifically about Wittenoom, the subject of the vid I linked upthread.
These days, Wittenoom is the ghostiest of ghost towns. They’ve even removed it from the maps and taken down the road signs in order to discourage daft tourists from going there.
It isn’t just the mines that are dangerous; the entire town and surrounding area is covered in asbestos dust. Just walking around is enough to stir it up to lethally dangerous levels.
The mine owners’ (CSR) response to the issue could be summarised as (1) bribe politicians and regulators to keep the mine open, despite being fully aware of the danger, and (2) delay the claims for compensation as long as possible so that most of the workers would die before the cases were adjudicated.
Asbestos was a sideline for CSR; their main business was sugar. Much of which was harvested by slaves.
The company is still in existence and highly profitable.
