Meet the final resident of Australia’s DEADLIEST ghost town, where simply breathing the air might kill you, as she faces eviction for missing a deadline.
Lorraine Thomas, the final inhabitant of Wittenoom, has missed today’s departure date.
Wittenoom is the largest industrially contaminated site in the Southern Hemisphere.
Asbestos was mined at Wittenoom from 1943 to 1966, when the operator, CSR, deemed it unprofitable.
Due to the lethal quantities of asbestos in the air, the town was deleted from maps and road signs were removed. All residents were given a deadline of August 31 to depart or risk forcible eviction.
The last resident of “Australia’s Chernobyl” has missed today’s deadline to depart, sparking fears of eviction by force.
Lorraine Thomas resides in Wittenoom, the most toxic industrial site in the Southern Hemisphere, a former asbestos mining town in which one in ten residents perished.
Under the Wittenoom Closure Act, the Western Australian government informed inhabitants that they had until August 31 to vacate the town or face forcible removal by police.
The original date was set for the middle of June, but papers indicate it will not be extended again.
Aileen Thomas, daughter of Lorainne, explains that the family attempted to remove many of her possessions from the residence, but personal obstacles prevented them from completing the task.
Now, she fears that the authorities may forcibly remove her.
She is quite eager to depart. We simply need a few more weeks to get the last few items, and I don’t see a problem with that as the house will be abandoned anyway.
Lorraine Thomas (shown above) is Wittenoom’s final inhabitant and fears forcible eviction since she missed the town’s moving deadline.
Wittenoom is the largest contaminated industrial site in the Southern Hemisphere, with more than 3 million tonnes of asbestos tailings (above) remaining from its former blue asbestos mine.
The closure of the Wittenoom mine in 1966 is blamed for the deaths of at least 2,000 miners and their families who inhaled the asbestos fibers.
From 1943 until 1966, the Wittenoom asbestos mine murdered approximately 2,000 workers and townspeople (pictured, workers bagging asbestos)
During its heyday, Wittenoom was home to 20,000 people and hosted local events such as asbestos shoveling competitions (above)
Wittenoom is located around 300 kilometers south of Port Hedland and 1,400 kilometers north-east of Perth in the iron ore-rich Hamersley Range. The declared polluted region is 50,000 hectares in size.
CSR developed a mine in the Wittenoom Gorge in April 1943. Asbestos was mined in the region since the 1920s.
The government of Western Australia provided homes, a school, a post office, a hospital, and a police station, as well as a water supply and a paved road leading to the mine.
CSR constructed a hotel, general store, butcher shop, bakery, cafe, library, and additional housing. Wittenoom even had a racetrack and staged events like an asbestos shoveling competition.
The asbestos mining and milling industry employed approximately 7,000 individuals, while the remaining 13,000 inhabitants, the majority of whom were women and children, resided in the town.
According to the Asbestos Diseases Society of Australia, the processed fiber was delivered in open trucks 330 kilometers to Point Samson.
The blue asbestos was then kept in storage sheds and put aboard ships. About half of Wittenoom’s output was exported.
Throughout its 23 years of operation, the Wittenoom mine exported 150,000 tons of asbestos.
The mine was closed by CSR in December 1966, citing a lack of profitability and declining asbestos prices. The following year, mining of blue asbestos was prohibited.
Absestos-related deaths of Wittenoom residents and employees were first recorded in the 1960s, and the number continues to rise.
Studies indicate that at least one-fourth of those who worked in the mine will die from mesothelioma or another asbestos-related illness.
The mine was closed by CSR in December 1966, citing a lack of profitability and declining asbestos prices. The following year, mining of blue asbestos was prohibited.
Despite the fact that every day Ms. Thomas remains in the town is another day she continues to breathe in the toxic substance, she and her family hope authorities will understand she must remain for a little longer.
I simply want someone to have a little compassion and treat us with a little decency. It’s been her home. It is the location of her husband’s grave in the cemetery.
The closure of Wittenoom was announced in 2006 and went into effect in 2013. Ms. Thomas is the final resident of the town (pictured, the remaining homes in Wittenoom)
The town has been obliterated from most maps and road signs leading to it have been removed; instead, the land surrounding Wittenoom is blanketed in warning signs (above) indicating the presence of asbestos.
The majority of the residences that housed the town’s 20,000 residents have been removed and replaced with warning signs, as evidenced by desolate photographs.
In an effort to prevent “dark tourists” from visiting, the city has been omitted off most maps and road signs have been erased.
Aileen stated that these visitors render her mother’s relocation irrelevant.
The CSR-owned Wittenoom asbestos mine was shut down in 1966 as it grew unprofitable and locals were concerned that health issues were associated with it (pictured, asbestos)
The mine (above) inspired the famous song Blue Sky Mine by Midnight Oil and has been designated as Australia’s worst human and environmental waste site.
She stated, “Regardless of who lives there, there will still be people passing through the town or region.”
Ms. Thomas, along with all other evicted Wittenoom residents, received relocation compensation of $350,000.
Workers at the asbestos mine (above) were unprotected from the sharp, cancer- and respiratory-disease-causing fibers that are now known to exist.
The town has become a popular destination for “dark tourists” (above), which frustrates Ms. Thomson’s family, who feel that she has “no reason” to leave.
More than 2,000 workers and residents perished in the Wittenoom mine, and at least a fifth of the company’s 7,000 workers are projected to die from asbestos-related sickness (pictured, a worker in Wittenoom mine)
The Wittenoom catastrophe inspired the famous song Blue Sky Mine by Midnight Oil and has gone down in history as Australia’s biggest environmental and human waste.
The Western Australian Government announced the removal of the town’s official status in December 2006, and it was degazetted the following year.
In 2013, a Wittenoom steering committee met to finalize Wittenoom’s closure, restrict entry to the town, and raise awareness of the dangers of entering.
By 2015, only six residents remained, followed by four in 2016 and two in 2020.
Ms. Thomas will be the final ever resident of the disaster zone.