I reckon you should get onto worksafe. That is absolutely not on. I’ve been on a worksite that had the tiniest bit of asbestos mixed in with the soil in some areas (and it was all wetted down and not friable) but there was a full blown asbestos inspector on site and they were very strict about PPE. Had to throw out your coveralls even if you just wanted to pee
ooh just reading up on the worksafe removal guidelines jeez it’s serious stuff.
From the way the dude was speaking I’m guessing it’s dust (ACD) (eek).