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Wittenoom is a former mining town and a declared contaminated site, 1,420 kilometres (880 mi) north-north-east of Perth, in the Hamersley Range in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

The declared contaminated site comprises 46,840 hectares (115,700 acres), making it the largest contaminated site in the southern hemisphere, an area nearly 1⁄5 the size of the Chernobyl exclusion zone area. The Government of Western Australia "strongly advises against all travel through Wittenoom and the surrounding areas". The area around Wittenoom was mainly pastoral until the 1940s when mining for blue asbestos began. By 1941, 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). During the 1950s and early 1960s, Wittenoom was Australia's only supplier of blue asbestos. In December 2006, the Government of Western Australia announced that the town's official status would be removed and, in June 2007, Jon Ford, the Minister for Regional Development, announced that the townsite had officially been 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. As of September 2022, Wittenoom had no remaining residents, and demolition of remaining structures by the Western Australian Government began in May 2023. The Panyjima ("Banjima") Aboriginal Australian people hold native title over the area, known as Ngambigunha by its people, and campaign for the area's clean-up by the government.

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 Edward Horne Wittenoom. 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 area was originally resided on by the Panyjima, also known as the Banjima, an Aboriginal Australian people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia. In the early 1930s, Lang Hancock discovered Wittenoom Gorge, on the Mulga Downs property.

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.

As of 2016, Wittenoom had only three permanent residents, 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. The Wittenoom Closure Bill was reintroduced to the Western Australian Parliament in August 2021, and was passed on 24 March 2022. 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.

The traditional owners of country where Wittenoom is situated, the Panyjima people ("Banjima"), 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.

The 1990 Midnight Oil song, "Blue Sky Mine" and the group's album, Blue Sky Mining, was inspired by the experiences of workers at the Wittenoom asbestos mines who contracted various asbestos-related diseases, as were He Fades Away and Blue Murder by Alistair Hulett.

Quick Facts

• The Government of Western Australia "strongly advises against all travel through Wittenoom and the surrounding areas".
• By 1941, major mining began in Yampire Gorge, which was closed in 1943 when mining began in Wittenoom Gorge.
• The area around Wittenoom was mainly pastoral until the 1940s when mining for blue asbestos began.
• In December 2006, the Government of Western Australia announced that the town's official status would be removed and, in June 2007, Jon Ford, the Minister for Regional Development, announced that the townsite had officially been degazetted.
• As of September 2022, Wittenoom had no remaining residents, and demolition of remaining structures by the Western Australian Government began in May 2023.

Source material: Wikipedia - "Wittenoom, Western Australia". Adapted and summarized for DiscoverScroll. Original contributors are credited through the linked Wikipedia article. Read original on Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes were made from the original.