Telstra and NBN have procedures for dealing with the asbestos.
They have been using water, as people have posted comments about them using water in some areas.
The people who specialise in such issues say the risk is exaggerated.
One such professor spoke to Eleanor Hall on ABC.
ELEANOR HALL: That's the Trade Minister Craig Emerson speaking there on Sky.
Professor Bruce Armstrong is a public health specialist, who's been investigating asbestos related disease for decades and he says that in this instance, the dangers of asbestos contamination have been exaggerated.
Professor Armstrong told Eliza Harvey that he blames politicians and asbestos groups for failing to ease the concerns of affected residents.
ELIZA HARVEY: What do you see is the risk associated with the asbestos that we find bound within these concrete fibres?
BRUCE ARMSTRONG: It's very low. Provided it remains bound in the asbestos cement form then the risk from it is negligible.
ELIZA HARVEY: So therefore how should we be discussing this risk in light of this week's debate about the dangers of excavating the pits?
BRUCE ARMSTRONG: The hazard that was generated, to the extent that I know anything about exactly what happened, would have been to the workers knocking the asbestos around and not to people living nearby.
Those fibres, to the extent that they were present around the workers would be very rapidly diluted in a large volume of air and the probability that anyone else is exposed is going to be very low.
ELIZA HARVEY: Why do you think people are so fearful about the work that's taking place in these Telstra pits?
BRUCE ARMSTRONG: We've seen the difficulties that many men have experienced, Bernie Banton and others, and I think the community has not either been educated to or perhaps caught the difference between the circumstances in which those men were exposed and the circumstances around asbestos cement sheeting.
And I think that people are starting to attach to being even close to asbestos cement sheeting the same kind of hazard as men experienced in Hardie or Wittenoom, and this is just not the case. It is absolutely negligible.
ELIZA HARVEY: Do you think any groups have to take a bit more responsibility, be it diseases foundations or say unions, to actually temper some of the fear that we are hearing?
BRUCE ARMSTRONG: Well, let me say I think that some of the dialogue around asbestos hazard and particularly the removal of asbestos cement sheeting is generated by interests involved in the removal of asbestos because it's now a major industry and obviously is going to perhaps get a little bigger with these events around the Telstra pits.
I think that the asbestos diseases groups tend to not distinguish between the hazards of the asbestos in its natural form. They don't distinguish between the hazards associated with that and other really extremely low hazards associated with asbestos cement.
ELIZA HARVEY: What about Telstra? Do you think that the issue has been in many ways that people weren't warned and when they're not warned they feel like the risks could be huge because, you know, why aren't they telling us this information? Do you think that if it was dealt with more proactively from Telstra people may not necessarily be so fearful?
BRUCE ARMSTRONG: That, I mean, that's a very good question. I think in the present climate any reassurances about lack of hazard are to be treated very sceptically. The politicians are also beating this up. I don't believe it at the moment. We are getting an accurate representation of the size of the risk from the Government side.
They too are tending to portray it in a very negative light, this is a major problem, and not saying anything to reduce the risk that people might feel and obviously the Opposition has an interest in trying to make it look as black as possible.
ELIZA HARVEY: You're calling for some moderation from the leaders in this debate.
BRUCE ARMSTRONG: Absolutely. Facts and sensible dialogue.
