They live with the worry of a life-threatening illness hanging over their heads, and will continue to do so for the rest of their lives.
The five men who spoke to the Gazette last week believe they were exposed to asbestos while working at Katoomba tip. They will have their lungs screened annually for the foreseeable future to check for signs of a potentially killer disease.
But council said the SafeWork decision to close the facility was politically motivated and wrong, leading to an escalation of fear for staff and former staff.
Mick Breen from Katoomba said: "We were coming home [from work] covered in dust every day. My daughter would hug me and get it all over her. We have to worry for our families for the next 20 or 30 years."
The tip was closed in November 2017 after a visit by SafeWork NSW.
Since then, the men say they have endured three extremely stressful years, with sleepless nights, concerns about the future, and medical appointments not only for their physical health but also with psychologists for their mental well-being.
Mr Breen said: "It's in the back of your mind all the time. My anxiety levels went through the roof."
Michael Bird said: "What you have in the back of your head is what's the point in planning for the future when you don't know if you have one. It's like a ticking time bomb... The last three years have been unbearable."
Blue Mountains Council CEO Rosemary Dillon said the SafeWork decision to close the facility created unfounded fear among workers.
"This is yet another example of how the politicisation of the safety regulator has led to an escalation of fear within our community, and for our staff and former staff.
"SafeWork's unlawful and unreasonable processes continue to take a toll. I feel for all those who continue to feel the consequences of this sorry affair, including our former staff."
Dr Dillon said independent experts deemed the site to be treated as containing non-friable asbestos (usually bonded with another material, such as cement, and less likely to break into pieces).
"However, in the midst of the political and media driven campaign, SafeWork directed the experts to change the results to friable. This resulted in remediation of the site that cost the community just under $5 million."
Dr Dillon said "contrary to what these workers are stating, actual testing of the sites on the Katoomba waste facility platform did not reveal any significant amounts of asbestos".
"In addition, of the 200+ airborne asbestos samples that were continuously undertaken during the period immediately prior to, during and subsequent to the large scale removal of 13,568 cubic metres of material from the Katoomba waste facility platform, not a single positive sample was ever detected above normal background levels."
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The men said they worked at the site, often sorting building rubble into groups (timber, steel etc), wearing only gloves for protection.
Council disputed this and said they had a full kit of personal protective equipment available at all times.
The five men, and two other colleagues, have now taken voluntary redundancy and left council.
Council said all the men were offered alternative positions, either part-time at the Katoomba facility or full-time in another role, but the men said they had lost faith in their employer.
They regarded themselves as the "little people" of the asbestos affair.
"They [council] don't look after the little person," Mr Bird said. "They only look after management."
Erwin Quentemeijer said: "They said we'll look after you. I sort of believed in it. Not anymore. The little bloke gets kicked out."
The men said they had all enjoyed their work and did their best to establish good relationships with the public and the contractors who would regularly dump rubbish.
"We put a lot of effort into our jobs and getting a sense of self-respect in the job we had done," Mr Breen said. "I just feel gutted."
Dr Dillon said: "In the last three years, this organisation has had to endure continued and misleading statements as part of co-ordinated campaigns against the council.
"We have provided evidence on this as part of the public inquiry and it is evident in the findings of the recent Ombudsman's Report."
She said residents "need to understand that Blue Mountains City Council continues to be the subject of concerted campaigns that are both local and political".
