There are fears Sydney’s asbestos crisis may include residential homes following the detection of contaminated mulch in at least 22 sites across Sydney.
The material was first found at the Rozelle Parklands in Sydney’s inner west last month.
The NSW Government has launched a special task force, with more than 130 criminal investigators tracking down an unknown number of contaminated sites.
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Asked if the likely figure for the number of contaminated sites was in the hundreds, Premier Chris Minns said: “Yes.”
That was the “worst case scenario” the state’s environmental regulator was working under, it said, while noting nine out of every 10 sites testing so far had been cleared.
“It is a very large investigation, probably the biggest in the EPA’s history,” Environment Protection Authority chief executive Tony Chappel said.
“They’re also helping us to get to the bottom of the supply chain,” Environment Minister Penny Sharpe said.
Adding difficultly to the tracking process, described as being similar to COVID contact tracing, the supplier linked to all 22 plants distributed its recycled mulch product to 30 companies.
These companies have then provided that mulch to an unknown number of sites.
“In a worst-case scenario, it may be in the hundreds,” Chappel said.
The latest discovery at a primary school in Liverpool has resulted in hundreds of students learning from home before being shifted to another public school nearby while the mulch is removed.
Education Minister Prue Car said the clean-up would take longer than expected because the mulch had been incorrectly placed.
The EPA recently found out a handful of regional sites, including in Nowra, and residential properties had received the mulch product.
There are now concerns the contaminated mulch may have found its way into Sydney homes by way of landscapers
The EPA has issued a prevention notice to landscaping supply company Greenlife Resource Recovery after the watchdog determined it supplied the mulch used at Rozelle.
Greenlife has been asked to recall its product voluntarily, with the EPA saying laws around compulsory recalls were not designed for this type of situation.
The company says testing shows mulch stockpiled at its facility was free of asbestos contamination, and it was confident the material was also clean when delivered to contractors for landscaping.
It is challenging the prevention order.
-With Chris Maher