Featured Image Credit: The Sydney Morning Herald / Contributor / Edward Haylan / Getty
Among the fascinating wonders of our planet, there are a few places that probably aren't on your bucket list given how spooky they are.
From the unfinished projects China’s massive eco-city, and a mega-city six times the size of New York, one place in the Australian outback stands out as a ghost town.
The air in Wittenoom is so dangerously contaminated that it no visitors are allowed in.
But it wasn't always like this.
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Wittenoom was once filled with thousands of residents and a thriving mining industry.
In the 1930s, widespread mining kicked off following the discovery of crocidolite asbestos, also known as blue asbestos.
From 1943 to 1966, the Wittenoom mine shipped over 165,000 tonnes of this deadly material.
For about three decades, Wittenoom flourished with mining at its core.
Unfortunately, this way of life came at a price, as the very industry that supported the town was harming its people.
In fact, more than 2,000 residents and former mine workers have died from mesothelioma a cancer primarily breathing in the deadly fibres of blue asbestos.
Simply drawing breath here has killed thousands, even for many years after exposure.
The mines were eventually closed in 1996 as they were no longer making enough money, but the human toll was far more significant than any financial loss.
Wittenoom is known as the largest contaminated area in the southern hemisphere.
The air is still toxic today, which has led to the demolition of buildings, sealing off waste dumps, and cutting Wittenoom off from the national grid to keep curious visitors away. One YouTuber went to go see the place for himself on behalf on the channel Free Documentary.
He interviewed some of the residents of the nearby area.
Even after cleanup efforts, about three million tonnes of asbestos tailings remain. As a result, the land is deemed unsafe for anyone to tread on let alone live on.
In the 1980s, cleaning up the site would have cost around $20 million, but it would cost much more today.
Former Wittenoom resident and retired Western Australia Greens MP Robin Chapple has called for stronger security measures against some thrill-seekers who can't resist checking the ghost town out.
"If you keep on covering something up long enough, everybody will want to go and see it," Chapple told ABC News.
Chapple also urged officials to address the lingering asbestos tailings, stating: "You just can't go around leaving contaminated sites saying, 'it's all too hard'.
"The government and the mining industry which allowed this to be developed, and actually poured money into the development, has a responsibility to clean up."
