Picture of tailings dump of asbestos which was originally covered in tar to stop it moving at Wittenoom Gorge. Source: News Corp Australia

The small country town which lies around 1400kms northeast of Perth was also, at one stage, the only place in Australia that produced blue asbestos.

But when demand for the deadly mineral began to wane and fears of serious health concerns began to emerge, the operation was shut down in 1966.

However it was another decade before authorities realised the blue dust that swept throughout the town was extremely hazardous.

And it was a further three before the WA Government officially declared Wittenoom a contaminated site.

Despite this, three residents remain, determined to keep living in a town that officially doesn’t exist.

“You would have to respect this area,” Pete, one of the three remaining residents, told Channel 10’s The Project last week. “You wouldn’t want to mess with it too much. But as I say, it has been here for 50 years so what’s likely and airborne, that’s already gone.”

Pete is one of three people who still live in Wittenoom. Despite it being declared a contaminated site because of the deadly asbestos that flows throughout the town, he says he won’t leave. Source: Channel 10

At its height, Wittenoom had a population of around 20,000.

7000 were mine and mill workers. The other 13,000 were the families and other workers that serviced the town.

Blue asbestos was used for a range of products including fire resistance spray coating, concrete, pipes and ceiling insulation.

It has been found to be 100 times more hazardous than white asbestos because its fibres are so much smaller.

And its mine tailings were used to build Wittenoom’s carparks, playgrounds, sporting fields and roads.

Workers shovel raw blue asbestos tailings into drums at an asbestos shovelling competition at Wittenoom, in the Pilbara, WA, in 1962. Source: News Corp Australia

Wittenoom. Source: Supplied

Nearly 150,000 tons of the deadly mineral were extracted from the area before mining stopped.

And so far, more than 2000 former workers and residents have died from Asbestos-related diseases while dozens have brought legal action against the operating company, which was founded by Lang Hancock but then bought by CSR.

After the mine was shut down, residents began to leave, but a solid contingent remained.

It wasn’t until the WA Government began its policy of ‘phasing’ down activity in the area in the mid-1980s that numbers dwindled.

By the mid-1990s Wittenoom was deemed a health risk but authorities still stopped short of forcibly removing people from the area.

They just began the process of removing facilities.

In 2007 it degazetted the town and cut off its electricity and mail.

It is also no longer part of the Shire of Ashburton but the three remaining residents still pay rates.

Lorraine and husband Les Thomas. Source: News Corp Australia

Wittenoom is about 1400kms northeast of Perth. Source: Supplied

This frustrates resident Lorraine Thomas, who is also a shire councillor, even though it’s not part of the shire anymore.

Ms Thomas moved to Wittenoom more than 30 year ago — just as the area’s deadly reputation was beginning to emerge.

“It doesn’t make me feel very happy (rates) but what can I do about it?’’ she said. “Nothing.”

“There was the hospital, the St John’s Ambulance centre, the police station, the courthouse, three churches, the Fortescue Hotel.

“The airport. It was a big town. Bigger than Tom Price.

“The mine closed in December 1966. February 2008, the government declared this is a contaminated site.

“I don’t see why it took so long.”

Lorraine Thomas has lived in Wittenoom for more than 30 years. She doesn’t want to leave. Picture: Channel 10. Source: Supplied

The former town is part of a 470 square kilometre contaminated zone.

Among the highest risk areas is Wittenoom Gorge, the mouth of which is over one kilometre wide.

Over the last decade a series of feasibility studies for a clean up have been carried out with the latest to take place next month.

A WA Department of Lands spokesman told news.com.au contractors will travel to Wittenoom in mid-June to carry out geotechnical works on several test pits to help determine the best way to deal with the contamination.

Three hot spots, or high risk areas, have been identified and the geotechnical work will be carried out to see if they are suitable to secure tailings from the Wittenoom Gorge.

Besides of the obvious health risks, the other major hurdle facing the WA Government is the cost of completing such as task.

The spokesman said there are two options for dealing with contamination — you bury it or remove it — both of which will prove costly.

Just this week the WA Government revealed it was $30.9 billion in the red.

Robert Vojakovic, spokesman for the Asbestos Disease Society of Australia, doesn’t believe the government ever will “clean up” Wittenoom because of the enormity of the task.

“It will cost too much,” he told news.com.au. “I believe they want to. But you ask anyone. there’s no chance of a clean up being done.

“It will be a long and complicated process.

“They may have to even go further than Wittenoom, depending if the dust spread further.”

A tailings dump of asbestos which was originally covered in tar to stop it moving at Wittenoom Gorge. Source: News Corp Australia

The WA Department of Lands spokesman acknowledged cleaning up Wittenoom would not be simple.

He said that was why the latest geotechnical works were being carried out to determine what should be done — and what it was likely to cost.

When asked whether the government would be seeking funds from the former owners of the mine, he replied that was why they were carrying out the works to determine what needs to be done.

“This is an utterly unique site,” he said. “It is probably the largest contaminated site in the country. Whatever solution is proposed, it is going to be something that will last.”

In the meantime, the remaining residents of Wittenoom are planning to stay.

“I like it here,” Pete told The Project this week. “I want to stay here.”