Greenpeace finds carcinogenic asbestos on eight streets in Vienna and surrounding area

Stefan Stadler, spokesperson for the Greenpeace investigative team, stated: "Seit Monaten melden sich besorgte Menschen bei uns mit Hinweisen auf asbestbelastete Straßen, Einfahrten und Spielplätze. Jetzt ist auch Wien betroffen, denn wir haben Asbest-Asphalte in dicht besiedelten Gebieten und sogar auf stark befahrenen Straßen entdeckt. Doch die Regierung ist noch immer untätig. Deshalb können jetzt bei uns Asbest-Funde direkt in einer interaktiven Online-Karte gemeldet werden. So wird das Ausmaß dieses beispiellosen Umweltskandals endlich sichtbar."

How dangerous is amphibole asbestos?

According to Greenpeace estimates, the asbestos content detected in the road surface amounts to one to five percent. The organization said it counted up to 500 small asbestos stones per square meter on the affected streets. Stadler warned that the detected amphibole asbestos is "hoch krebserregend" and "noch gefährlicher als in den 80ern". The material is so brittle that even minimal pressure from a ballpoint pen is enough to crumble it — on heavily used main roads and heavy truck routes, every single vehicle risks a potential release of the dangerous fibers.

Greenpeace has now created an interactive online map where people can report asbestos finds. Stadler continued: "Greenpeace hat bei mehr als 65 Orten Asbestfunde dokumentiert und es haben sich hunderte Betroffene gemeldet. Sie werden bei der Asbest-Entsorgung und der Finanzierung für die Sanierung im Stich gelassen. Greenpeace fordert Kanzler Stocker auf, Gelder aus dem Katastrophenfond für die vielen Opfer des Asbest-Skandals bereitzustellen und eine kostengünstige Entsorgungsmöglichkeit für den Asbestschotter zu schaffen".

Demands on the federal government

The organization is calling on Chancellor Stocker's asbestos task force to initiate corresponding investigations, as has been done in Hungary. In addition, funds from the disaster fund must be made available for the victims of the asbestos scandal. In Hungary, the Hungarian authorities are already compiling an asbestos cadaster with the involvement of citizens, as Stadler emphasized. Since uncovering the asbestos scandal, Greenpeace has received more than 300 reports from the public of asbestos finds in front gardens, streets, children's playgrounds, hospitals, residential roads, and paths.

The asbestos scandal, which originated in Burgenland, has spread to Styria, Lower Austria, and Hungary, where more than 300 locations are affected. Asbestos asphalt has also been found in the Lower Austrian outskirts of Vienna in Breitenfurt near Vienna and on a residential traffic-calmed street in Wiener Neudorf. The contaminated gravel comes from Burgenland quarries that have since been closed. Greenpeace is calling for rapid remediation of heavily used roads.

Reaction from the City of Vienna and situation in Burgenland

According to Greenpeace, the City of Vienna is responding swiftly to the finds. MA 28 is already having extensive laboratory analyses carried out and has intensified controls. Greenpeace praises the swift action and delivers a swipe in the direction of Burgenland: "Das sollte man sich dort zum Vorbild nehmen." In Burgenland, despite a task force that has been active for six months, there is still no clarity about the exact extent of the affected sites.

Greenpeace is calling on Chancellor Stocker to make funds available from the disaster fund for the many victims of the asbestos scandal and to create a low-cost disposal option for the asbestos gravel. Stadler emphasized that many those affected are being left in the lurch when it comes to asbestos disposal and financing for remediation. The interactive online map is intended to help make the extent of the scandal visible and exert pressure on political decision-makers.

Several residential streets in Vienna's Liesing district are also under suspicion. On the border between Vienna and Lower Austria, nearly one kilometer of the heavily traveled Triester Straße is affected. The finds were made possible by tips from the public, as Greenpeace emphasized. The organization once again called on the public to report further suspected cases.

Online map and further reports

According to Greenpeace's assessment, the finds now documented in Vienna mark a new dimension of the scandal: for the first time, densely populated areas and heavily used major traffic arteries of a major city are affected. Stadler spoke of a „beispiellosen Umweltskandal" and pointed to the particular danger of the now-detected amphibole asbestos, which is considered even more dangerous than the types of asbestos installed in the 1980s.

Greenpeace has documented asbestos finds at more than 65 locations. Hundreds of those affected have contacted the organization, according to the report. The interactive map is intended to systematically record and publicly disclose further finds. The map is available on the website of Greenpeace Austria.

According to Greenpeace, the Hungarian authorities have already taken action and are compiling an asbestos cadaster with the involvement of citizens. The organization is calling on Chancellor Stocker's asbestos task force to initiate a comparable approach in Austria. In addition, a low-cost disposal option for the asbestos gravel must be created.

Origin of the contaminated gravel

Greenpeace emphasized that MA 28 of the City of Vienna could serve as a model for swift action. In Burgenland, the task force active for six months has so far not been able to quantify the exact extent of the affected sites. The environmental organization is therefore also calling for swifter action at the state level.

The finds in Vienna raise questions about responsibility along the supply chain: the contaminated gravel originates from Burgenland quarries that have since been closed. According to Greenpeace, the spread of the scandal to several federal states and neighboring Hungary underscores the urgency of a nationally coordinated approach to the recording, remediation, and financing of asbestos removal.