5 Mar 2009

Troops exposed to asbestos while training

9:44 am on 5 March 2009

An Army Court of Inquiry has found hundreds of soldiers were exposed to asbestos while on training exercises in Manawatu.

Ten exercises were held at the abandoned Longburn Freezing Works near Palmerston North.

But a fire in March 2007 covered the area in asbestos fragments.

The inquiry found the Defence Force was not told about the contamination.