{{short description|Contaminated site and former town in Pilbara, Western Australia}}
{{Use Australian English|date=April 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2014}}
{{Infobox Australian place
| type = other
| name     = Wittenoom
| state    = wa
| image    = Govt Warning - Wittenoom WA.JPG
| caption  = State government warning sign near the entrance to the former Wittenoom township.
| lga      = [[Shire of Ashburton]]
| coordinates = {{coord |region:AU-WA_type:landmark_dim:{{wikidata |property |qualifier |raw |P625 |P2386 |format=%q}} |name={{wikidata |property |P1448 }} |display=inline,title |format=dms}}{{EditAtWikidata|pid=P625}}
| local_map   = yes
| zoom        = 10
| gazetted = Degazetted June 2007
| postcode = 6751
| pop                      = <!-- Leave blank to draw the latest automatically from Wikidata. -->
| area     = {{cvt |input=P2046}}
| est      = 1950<ref name="LandInfo WA|c|W|2007-09-10">{{LandInfo WA|c|W|2007-09-10}}</ref>
| elevation= 
| maxtemp  = 32.8
| mintemp  = 19.7
| rainfall = 453.7
| stategov = [[Electoral district of North West Central|North West Central]]
| fedgov   = [[Division of Durack|Durack]]
| dist1    = 140
| location1= [[Tom Price, Western Australia|Tom Price]]
}}

'''Wittenoom''' is a [[ghost town|former town]] and a [[Health impact of asbestos|declared contaminated site]], {{convert|1,420|km}} north-north-east of [[Perth]], in the [[Hamersley Range]] in the [[Pilbara]] region of Western Australia.<ref name="ash13">{{cite web |url=https://www.ashburton.wa.gov.au/library/file/publications/council-policies/EMP02%20Prohibited%20Areas-Wittenoom%20and%20Yampire.pdf |title=Prohibited Areas – Wittenoom and Yampire Gorge |website=Shire of Ashburton |date=2019 |access-date= 16 July 2019 |archive-date=11 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200711112115/https://www.ashburton.wa.gov.au/library/file/publications/council-policies/EMP02%20Prohibited%20Areas-Wittenoom%20and%20Yampire.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="ash192">{{cite press release |type=News |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |url=https://www.ashburton.wa.gov.au/news-article/1130/closure-of-former-wittenoom-townsite-roads/ |title=Closure of former Wittenoom Townsite Roads |date=9 May 2019 |location=Western Australia |website=Shire of Ashburton |access-date=16 July 2019 |archive-url = http://web.archive.org/web/20190716020822/https://www.ashburton.wa.gov.au/news-article/1130/closure-of-former-wittenoom-townsite-roads/ | archive-date = 16 July 2019 | url-status = dead}}</ref> The declared contaminated site comprises {{convert|50,000|ha}}, making it the "largest contaminated site in the southern hemisphere".<ref name="mac19" /><ref name="fos19" />

The area around Wittenoom was mainly pastoral until the 1930s when mining for [[blue asbestos]] began. By 1939, major mining began in Yampire Gorge, which was closed in 1943 when mining began in Wittenoom Gorge. In 1947, a [[company town]] was built and, during the 1950s, it was the Pilbara's largest town. The peak population, as recorded by the Australian census conducted on 30 June 1961, was 881 (601 males and 280 females).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/ausstats/free.nsf/0/E9031BF823C21441CA2578790019D3B9/$File/1961%20Census%20-%20Volume%20V%20-%20Part%20V%20WESTERN%20AUSTRALIA%20Population%20and%20Dwellings%20in%20Localities.pdf |access-date=1 October 2023 | title=PART V.-POPULATION AND DWELLINGS IN LOCALITIES |archive-url = http://web.archive.org/web/20240621061444/https://www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/ausstats/free.nsf/0/E9031BF823C21441CA2578790019D3B9/$File/1961%20Census%20-%20Volume%20V%20-%20Part%20V%20WESTERN%20AUSTRALIA%20Population%20and%20Dwellings%20in%20Localities.pdf |archive-date = 21 June 2024 |url-status = live}}</ref>  During the 1950s and early 1960s, Wittenoom was Australia's only supplier of blue asbestos. The mine was shut down in 1966 due to its unprofitability, and growing health concerns from [[asbestos]] mining in the area.

The former townsite no longer receives government services. In December 2006, the [[Government of Western Australia]] announced that the town's official status would be removed and, in June 2007, [[Jon Ford (Australian politician)|Jon Ford]], the Minister for Regional Development, announced that the townsite had officially been [[wiktionary:degazette|degazetted]]. The town's name was removed from official maps and road signs, and the [[Shire of Ashburton]] is able to close roads that lead to contaminated areas.

The Wittenoom steering committee met in April 2013 to finalise closure of the town, limit access to the area, and raise awareness of the risks. Details of how that would be achieved were to be determined but it would probably necessitate removing the town's remaining residents, converting [[freehold (law)|freehold land]] to [[Crown land#Australia|crown land]], demolishing houses, and closing or rerouting roads. By 2015, six residents remained. In 2017, the number had dropped to four,<ref name="cro17" /> to three in 2018, and to two in 2021.<ref name=":0" />

{{As of |2022|09}}, Wittenoom had no remaining residents, and demolition of remaining structures by the Western Australian Government began in May 2023.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-08/demolition-of-asbestos-ghost-town-wittenoom-begins/102316358 | title=Demolition of asbestos town Wittenoom starts, as government warns visitors to stay away| newspaper=ABC News | date=8 May 2023 |access-date = 5 August 2024 |archive-url = http://web.archive.org/web/20230508033804/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-08/demolition-of-asbestos-ghost-town-wittenoom-begins/102316358 |archive-date = 8 May 2023 |url-status = live}}</ref>

== Name ==
Wittenoom was named by [[Lang Hancock]] after [[Frank Wittenoom]], his partner in the nearby [[Mulga Downs Station]]. The land around Wittenoom was originally settled by Wittenoom's brother, politician Sir [[Edward Wittenoom|Edward Horne Wittenoom]].<ref name="LandInfo WA|c|W|2007-09-10"/>

By the late 1940s, there were calls for a government townsite near the mine, and the Mines Department recommended it be named Wittenoom, advising that adoption of that name was strongly urged by the local people.

The name was approved in 1948, but it was not until 2 May 1950 that the townsite was officially gazetted.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.slp.wa.gov.au/gazette/gazette.nsf/gazlist/13890FFE168AEE76482576FD001498BE/$file/gg042.pdf|title=Western Australian Government Gazette 42, 1950 Page 974|work=State Law Publisher|access-date = 15 November 2010 |archive-url = http://web.archive.org/web/20200317082252/https://www.slp.wa.gov.au/gazette/gazette.nsf/gazlist/13890FFE168AEE76482576FD001498BE/$file/gg042.pdf |archive-date = 17 March 2020 |url-status = dead}}</ref> In 1951, the name was changed to Wittenoom Gorge at the request of the mining company but, in 1974, it was changed back to Wittenoom.

The mine closed in 1966, and the official abolition of the town was gazetted in March 2007.<ref name="LandInfo WA|c|W|2007-09-10" />

== Religion ==
In 1968, Wittenoom was one of only two [[Catholic]] parishes in the [[Pilbara]].<ref name="sor12">{{cite web |url=https://karratha.wa.gov.au/sites/default/files/Assets/Documents/Document%20Centre/LGHI/60._St_Pauls_Catholic_Church_Karratha.pdf |title=Place No. 60 St Paul's Catholic Church Karratha |website=City of Karratha |publisher=Shire of Roebourne |date=2012 |access-date = 26 September 2020 |archive-date = 8 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308112257/https://karratha.wa.gov.au/sites/default/files/Assets/Documents/Document%20Centre/LGHI/60._St_Pauls_Catholic_Church_Karratha.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== History ==
{{Multiple issues|section=yes|
{{refimprove|section|date=April 2022}}
{{original research|section|date=April 2022}}}}
The area was originally resided on by the Panyjima, also known as the Banjima, an Aboriginal Australian people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia. They hold Native Title over the area.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Welcome {{!}} Banjima Native Title Aboriginal Corporation |url=http://www.bntac.org.au/ |access-date = 18 February 2024 |website=www.bntac.org.au |archive-url = http://web.archive.org/web/20240703024333/https://bntac.org.au/ |archive-date = 3 July 2024 |url-status = live}}</ref>

In 1917, the Mines Department first recorded the presence of blue asbestos in the Hamersley Ranges. In the early 1930s, [[Lang Hancock]] discovered Wittenoom Gorge, on the Mulga Downs property.<ref name="edm58" />

In 1937, Hancock showed samples of blue asbestos ([[crocidolite]]) that he had picked up in the Gorge to Islwyn Walters and Walter  Leonard, who were mining and treating white asbestos at Nunyerrie, and at Lionel near Nullagine. When Hancock learned the fibre would fetch £70 per ton, he immediately [[mineral rights|pegged]] the best claims in Wittenoom Gorge.

Leo Snell, a kangaroo shooter on Mulga Downs, pegged a claim on Yampire Gorge, where there was a lot more blue asbestos. Walters and Leonard purchased Yampire Gorge from Snell, moved their treatment plant there, and began mining and treating the fibre. When Leonard cabled London that {{convert|2|mi|spell=in|}} of asbestos in sight at Yampire Gorge, they cabled him back saying he should take a holiday. Leonard had to send a photograph before it was believed Yampire Gorge contained that much asbestos.

Walters and Leonard cleared the way into Yampire Gorge by blasting the biggest rocks and pulling them out of the way with a camel team. Even after that, it took them seven hours to drive their lorry the {{convert|15|mi|order=flip}} from the workings to their treatment plant.

By 1940, twenty-two men were employed at the Yampire Gorge workings and about 375 tons were mined and transported by mule team wagons to the coast at Point Samson. During [[World War II]], communications with England became difficult, and de Berrales acquired an interest in the mines.

In 1943, the [[CSR Limited|Colonial Sugar Company]], through its subsidiary, Australian Blue Asbestos Ltd., took over both the Wittenoom and Yampire Mines. Lang Hancock, who watched his station property transform to a town, stated in 1958: "Izzy Walters was the man who stuck it and produced the market that made Wittenoom of today possible." Walter's partner, Len Leonard, put it this way in 1958: "but for his (Islwyn Walters) sheer grit and hard work there would be no such thing as Wittenoom. We have him to thank for that."{{cn|date=April 2022}}

Due to a lack of profitability however, the mine at Wittenoom was closed in 1966.

As of 2024, more than 2,000 of the approximately 20,000 former mine workers and residents of Wittenoom had died of [[Health impact of asbestos|asbestos-related diseases]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wynne |first1=Emma |title=Unauthorised Wittenoom visitors slammed after social media post documents visit to asbestos contaminated town |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-11/experts-slam-unauthorised-wittenoom-visitors-disease-risk/103573604 |access-date = 11 March 2024 |work=ABC Radio Perth |date = 11 March 2024 |archive-url = http://web.archive.org/web/20240720211811/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-11/experts-slam-unauthorised-wittenoom-visitors-disease-risk/103573604 |archive-date = 20 July 2024 |url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Zhuang |first1=Yan |last2=Abbott |first2=Matthew |title=The Last Days of an Outback Town Where Every Breath Can Be Toxic |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/29/world/australia/wittenoom-asbestos-mining.html |access-date = 11 March 2024 |work=The New York Times |date = 29 September 2022 |archive-url = http://web.archive.org/web/20240311075835/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/29/world/australia/wittenoom-asbestos-mining.html |archive-date = 11 March 2024 |url-status = live}}</ref>

=== Closing of the town ===
[[File:Wittenoom WA - Road Sign.JPG|thumb|Road sign with the town's name patched over]]
As of 2016, Wittenoom had only three permanent residents<ref name="garflo16">{{cite news |title=Wittenoom: The survivors of an erased town |first1=Melanie |last1=Garrick |first2=Loretta |last2=Florance |date = 18 November 2016 |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-05/wittenoom-home-of-australian-asbestos-population-three/7793902 |access-date = 26 September 2020 |archive-url = http://web.archive.org/web/20160906093708/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-05/wittenoom-home-of-australian-asbestos-population-three/7793902 |archive-date = 6 September 2016 |url-status = live}}</ref> who defied the [[Government of Western Australia]]'s announced intention to remove services, disconnect electric power, compulsorily acquire the remaining privately-owned properties and demolish the town.<ref name="Department of Environment and Conservation">{{cite web|url=https://secure.dec.wa.gov.au/contSites/index.cfm?MODULE=publicSearch|title=Search for Known Contaminated Sites|author=Department of Environment and Conservation|access-date = 14 November 2010 |archive-date = 3 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170903162947/https://secure.dec.wa.gov.au/contSites/index.cfm?MODULE=publicSearch|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="snelan09"/> There were still three residents in late 2018 and in September 2022, the last resident was evicted.<ref name=":1" >{{cite web |last1=Carr |first1=Cameron |last2=Tyndall |first2=Andrew |title=Wittenoom's last resident evicted without compassion from WA Lands Minister, daughter says |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-12/wittenoom-evicition-lands-minister-lacked-compassion/101427348 |website=ABC News |access-date = 15 September 2022 |date= 12 September 2022 |archive-url = http://web.archive.org/web/20220911212126/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-12/wittenoom-evicition-lands-minister-lacked-compassion/101427348 |archive-date = 11 September 2022 |url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Carr |first1=Cameron |title=WA Lands Minister John Carey stands by eviction of last Wittenoom resident Lorraine Thomas |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-15/lands-minister-stands-by-wittenoom-eviction/101442012 |website=ABC News |access-date = 15 September 2022 |date = 15 September 2022 |archive-url = http://web.archive.org/web/20220915060435/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-15/lands-minister-stands-by-wittenoom-eviction/101442012 |archive-date = 15 September 2022 |url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-20/final-wittenoom-residents-to-be-forced-out/10917928 |title=Wittenoom residents to be forced out as frustration boils over in effort to close deadly site |website=ABC News |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |first=Karen |last=Michelmore |date = 20 March 2019 |access-date = 13 February 2021 |archive-url = http://web.archive.org/web/20190319231050/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-20/final-wittenoom-residents-to-be-forced-out/10917928 |archive-date = 19 March 2019 |url-status = live}}</ref>

In November 2006, a report by consultants [[GHD Group]] and [[Parsons Brinckerhoff]] evaluated the continuing risks associated with asbestos contamination in the town and surrounding areas, classing the danger to visitors as medium and to residents as extreme.<ref name="Department of Environment and Conservation"/><ref name="snelan09" /> In December 2006, Minister for the Pilbara and Regional Development, Jon Ford, said that Wittenoom's status as a town would be removed and, in June 2007, he announced that the townsite status had been officially removed.<ref name="mediastatements.wa.gov.au">{{cite web|url=http://www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au/Lists/Statements/DispForm.aspx?ID=127391|title=New report into Wittenoom's asbestos risks|work=Regional Development Minister Jon Ford - Government of Western Australia|access-date = 14 November 2010 |url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120311100043/http://www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au/Lists/Statements/DispForm.aspx?ID=127391|archive-date = 11 March 2012}}</ref>

Both the Department of Health and an accredited contaminated sites auditor reviewed the report, with the latter finding that the detected presence of free asbestos fibres in surface soils from sampled locations presented an unacceptable public health risk. The auditor recommended that the former townsite and other impacted areas defined in the report be classified as "Contaminated - Remediation Required". On 28 January 2008, the [[Department of Environment and Conservation (Western Australia)|Department of Environment and Conservation]] classified Wittenoom as a contaminated site under the Contaminated Sites Act 2003.<ref name="Department of Environment and Conservation"/><ref name="snelan09"/>

However, opinion is not unanimous on the danger posed. [[Mark Nevill]], a geologist and former [[Australian Labor Party|Labor]] MLC for the [[electoral region of Mining and Pastoral|Mining and Pastoral]] district, said in an interview in 2004 that the asbestos levels in the town were below the detection level of most equipment, and the real danger was located in the gorge itself which contains the mine [[tailings]].

Residents once operated a camping ground, guest house and gem shop for passing tourists. The roof of the gem shop is now caved in and the wood of the guest house is rotten, while the camping ground is nowhere to be found.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2004/s1259219.htm|title=Wittenoom's diehard residents stay put|last=O'Donnell|first=Mick|work=[[The 7.30 Report]]|date = 6 December 2004 |access-date = 15 February 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170324173612/http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2004/s1259219.htm |archive-date = 24 March 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pbase.com/afildes/wittenoomdoom |title=The Doom of Wittenoom |first=Andrew |last=Fildes |year=2006 |website=www.pbase.com |access-date = 30 October 2020 |archive-url = http://web.archive.org/web/20230930051705/https://pbase.com/afildes/wittenoomdoom |archive-date = 30 September 2023 |url-status = live}}</ref>

It was reported in 2018 that thousands of travellers still visited the ghost town every year, as a form of [[extreme tourism]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-12/australias-deadliest-ghost-town-wittenoom-a-tourist-hotspot/9987328 |title=Tourists warned over visiting asbestos-riddled Wittenoom, Australia's most dangerous ghost town |last=De Poloni |first=Gian |work=ABC News |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date = 12 July 2018 |access-date = 30 October 2020 |archive-url = http://web.archive.org/web/20180714030830/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-12/australias-deadliest-ghost-town-wittenoom-a-tourist-hotspot/9987328 |archive-date = 14 July 2018 |url-status = live}}</ref>

The Australian Mesothelioma Registry (AMR) is a national database that keeps track of information about people who have been diagnosed with [[mesothelioma]] after July 2010. It records all new cases in order to help the government develop policies about how to deal with asbestos that still remains in the country and reduce the incidence of mesothelioma in the future.<ref>{{cite web |last=Sasser |first=Rachel |date = 26 February 2017 |title=Asbestos Issues and Mesothelioma in Australia |url=https://mesowatch.com/asbestos-issues-mesothelioma-australia/ |access-date = 30 October 2020 |work=mesowatch.com |archive-url = http://web.archive.org/web/20240710015330/https://mesowatch.com/asbestos-issues-mesothelioma-in-australia/ |archive-date = 10 July 2024 |url-status = live}}</ref>

The Wittenoom Closure Bill was reintroduced to the [[Western Australian Parliament]] in August 2021, and was passed on 24 March 2022.<ref name="rogowi22">{{cite news |date = 24 March 2022 |title=WA government bill to close asbestos-riddled town Wittenoom ends 'dark chapter' of state's history |first1 = Tom |last1 = Robinson |first2 = Verity |last2 = Gorman |first3 = Eddie |last3 = Williams |work = ABC News |publisher = Australian Broadcasting Corporation |url = https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-24/wittenoom-asbestos-closure-bill-passes-wa-parliament/100936140 |access-date = 24 March 2022 |archive-url = http://web.archive.org/web/20220324051723/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-24/wittenoom-asbestos-closure-bill-passes-wa-parliament/100936140 |archive-date = 24 March 2022 |url-status = live}}</ref> The bill enabled the compulsory acquisition and demolition of the 14 remaining privately-owned properties in the former townsite.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Government of Western Australia|date = 4 August 2021 |title = Final closure of Wittenoom nears as Bill returns to Parliament|url=https://www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au/Pages/McGowan/2021/08/Final-closure-of-Wittenoom-nears-as-Bill-returns-to-Parliament.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20211112014520/https://www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au/Pages/McGowan/2021/08/Final-closure-of-Wittenoom-nears-as-Bill-returns-to-Parliament.aspx |archive-date = 12 November 2021 |access-date=12 November 2021|website=mediastatements.wa.gov.au}}</ref>

The [[traditional owners]] of country where Wittenoom is situated, the [[Panyjima people]], have petitioned the Western Australian Parliament to not only remove all of Wittenoom's remaining buildings, but to remediate the land so that it is no longer contaminated.<ref name=":0">{{cite news |date = 11 November 2021 |title=Last homes in asbestos-riddled Wittenoom to be demolished, but some want to stay |first1=Isabel |last1=Moussalli |first2=Andrew |last2=Tyndall |work=ABC News |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-12/wittenoom-closure/100599722 |access-date = 12 November 2021 |archive-url = http://web.archive.org/web/20240719111710/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-12/wittenoom-closure/100599722 |archive-date = 19 July 2024 |url-status = live}}</ref>

The Wittenoom Closure Bill was passed by the Western Australian Parliament in March 2022, allowing the government to permanently close Wittenoom by compulsorily acquiring the remaining private properties and remove all infrastructure from the town.<ref name="rogowi22" /><ref name="wagovau_20220324_closed-by-parliament">{{cite web |title=Wittenoom to be closed permanently with passing of bill through State Parliament |url=https://www.wa.gov.au/government/media-statements/McGowan-Labor-Government/Wittenoom-to-be-closed-permanently-with-passing-of-bill-through-State-Parliament-20220324 |website=wa.gov.au |access-date = 5 August 2024 |date = 24 March 2022 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240805023633/https://www.wa.gov.au/government/media-statements/McGowan-Labor-Government/Wittenoom-to-be-closed-permanently-with-passing-of-bill-through-State-Parliament-20220324 |archive-date = 5 August 2024 |url-status = live}}</ref> In September 2022, the last resident was evicted.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{cite web |last1=Carr |first1=Cameron |title=WA Lands Minister John Carey stands by eviction of last Wittenoom resident Lorraine Thomas |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-15/lands-minister-stands-by-wittenoom-eviction/101442012 |website=ABC News |access-date = 15 September 2022 |date = 15 September 2022 |archive-url = http://web.archive.org/web/20220915060435/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-15/lands-minister-stands-by-wittenoom-eviction/101442012 |archive-date = 15 September 2022 |url-status = live}}</ref> As of September 2022, the town was classified as deserted, and closed to the public. A bushfire reportedly hit the area around 26 December 2022, causing damage to remaining buildings and disrupting plans to demolish the site during the 2023 dry season.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Robinson |first1=TOM |title=Asbestos-littered town of Wittenoom on track for demolition after bushfire razes buildings |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-09/wittenoom-asbestos-town-damaged-in-bushfire-ahead-of-demolition/101830292 |newspaper=ABC News |date = 8 January 2023 |access-date = 9 January 2023 |archive-url = http://web.archive.org/web/20230109015033/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-09/wittenoom-asbestos-town-damaged-in-bushfire-ahead-of-demolition/101830292 |archive-date = 9 January 2023 |url-status = live}}</ref>

== Legacy ==
[[Image:Wittenoom - Doc Holidays.JPG|thumb|Doc Holidays cafe (abandoned) at the entrance to the town]]

The 1990 [[Midnight Oil]] song, "[[Blue Sky Mine]]" and the group's album, ''[[Blue Sky Mining]]'', was inspired by the town and its mining industry,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=3992 |title=Blue Sky Mine by Midnight Oil |year=2020 |publisher=Songfacts |access-date = 30 October 2020 |archive-url = http://web.archive.org/web/20230408130806/https://www.songfacts.com/facts/midnight-oil/blue-sky-mine |archive-date = 8 April 2023 |url-status = dead}}</ref> as were ''He Fades Away'' and ''Blue Murder'' by [[Alistair Hulett]].  The town and its history are also featured in the novel [[Dirt Music]] by [[Tim Winton]].

Digital poet [[Jason Nelson]] created the work ''Wittenoom: speculative shell and the cancerous breeze'', an interactive exploration of the town's death. It won the [[Newcastle Poetry Prize]] in 2009.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.secrettechnology.com/JN-CV.pdf |title=Curriculum Vitae |first=Jason |last=Nelson |access-date = 30 October 2020 |archive-url = http://web.archive.org/web/20240430191709/http://www.secrettechnology.com/JN-CV.pdf |archive-date = 30 April 2024 |url-status = live}}</ref>

In the thriller novel ''The Dead Heart'', by Douglas Kennedy, the plot involves an imaginary location called ''Wollanup'',<ref name="ken94">{{cite book |title = The Dead Heart |first = Douglas |last = Kennedy |author-link = Douglas Kennedy (writer) |year = 1994 |publisher=Brown Little |isbn = 0316909475 |oclc = 42954313 |url = https://www.douglaskennedynovels.com/the-dead-heart |access-date = 10 June 2021 |archive-url = http://web.archive.org/web/20230408055057/https://www.douglaskennedynovels.com/the-dead-heart |archive-date = 8 April 2023 |url-status = dead }}</ref> which corresponds to Wittenoom. ''The Dead Heart'' was adapted as a comic by Kennedy and the illustrator Christian de Metter, under the title ''Dead Heart''.

==See also==
* [[Love Canal, New York]]
* [[Picher, Oklahoma]]
* [[Times Beach, Missouri]]
* [[Cassiar, British Columbia]]
* [[Clinton Creek]]

== References ==
{{reflist |refs=
<ref name="cro17">{{cite news |url=https://thewest.com.au/news/wa/it-may-be-a-ghost-town-but-for-some-wittenoom-is-home-ng-b88341296z |title=It may be a ghost town but for some Wittenoom is home |first=Liam |last=Croy |work=The West Australian |location=Perth |date = 2 January 2017 |access-date = 26 September 2020 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170103132027/https://thewest.com.au/news/wa/it-may-be-a-ghost-town-but-for-some-wittenoom-is-home-ng-b88341296z |archive-date = 3 January 2017 |url-status = live}}</ref>

<ref name="edm58">{{cite news |work=Daily News |location=Perth |date = 25 July 1958 |title=North-West Pioneer lived in a packing Case |first=Jack |last=Edmonds |issn=1839-8146 }}</ref>

<ref name="fos19">{{cite news |title=Tourists flock to 'Australia's Chernobyl' despite health risks |first=Ally |last=Foster |date = 21 July 2019 |work=news.com.au |location=Surry Hills |url=https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/health-safety/tourists-flock-to-australias-chernobyl-despite-health-risks/news-story/7d78d1594c1cadb10e44d6beb77d5a61 |access-date = 26 September 2020 |archive-url = http://web.archive.org/web/20201021023746/https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/health-safety/tourists-flock-to-australias-chernobyl-despite-health-risks/news-story/7d78d1594c1cadb10e44d6beb77d5a61 |archive-date = 21 October 2020 |url-status = live}}</ref>

<ref name="mac19">{{cite conference |title=Keynote discussion: The Wittenoom legacy |first=Antoine |last=Macmath |pages=4–16 |date = 11–13 November 2019 |conference=Asbestos Safety 2019 Conference |location=Perth, Western Australia |url=https://www.asbestossafety.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2019-11/DAY%202%20PLENARY.pdf  |access-date = 22 September 2020 |archive-url = http://web.archive.org/web/20240320062312/https://www.asbestossafety.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2019-11/DAY%202%20PLENARY.pdf |archive-date = 20 March 2024 |url-status = live}}</ref>

<ref name="snelan09">{{cite report |first1=Beryl |last1=Snell |first2=Jeffrey |last2=Langley |year=2009 |title=The Wittenoom Disaster |publisher=WorkSafe, Department of Commerce, Government of Western Australia |location=West Perth |url=http://bizline.docep.wa.gov.au/safetyline/media/The%20wittenoom%20disaster%20review.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090915105216/http://bizline.docep.wa.gov.au/safetyline/media/The%20wittenoom%20disaster%20review.pdf |archive-date = 15 September 2009 |access-date = 14 November 2010 }}</ref>
}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{cite conference |title=Wittenoom Geology and History |first=Laurie |last=Glossop |pages=19–39 |date = 11–13 November 2019 |conference=Asbestos Safety 2019 Conference |location=Perth, Western Australia |url=https://www.asbestossafety.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2019-11/DAY%202%20PLENARY.pdf |access-date = 22 September 2020 }}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last=Hills |first=Ben  |author-link=Ben Hills |year=1989 |title=Blue Murder: Two Thousand Doomed to Die: the Shocking Truth about Wittenoom's Deadly Dust |location=South Melbourne |publisher=Sun Books |isbn=9780725105815 |oclc=21292683 }}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Wittenoom, Western Australia}}

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140123093947/http://www.lands.wa.gov.au/Wittenoom Wittenoom: Asbestos contamination and management] (Western Australian Government)
* [http://asbestosdiseases.org.au/asbestosinfo/wittenoom_tragedies.htm The Asbestos Disease Society of Australia]

{{Towns in the Shire of Ashburton}}
{{Towns Pilbara WA}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Ghost towns in the Pilbara]]
[[Category:Mining towns in Western Australia]]
[[Category:Company towns in Australia]]
[[Category:1950 establishments in Australia]]
[[Category:Hamersley Range]]
[[Category:2007 disestablishments in Australia]]
[[Category:Environmental disaster ghost towns]]
[[Category:2007 in the environment]]
[[Category:Shire of Ashburton]]
[[Category:Asbestos mines]]