Agreement Reached Over Rozelle Parklands Mulch Scandal, Amid Efforts To Avoid Repeat

Two firms involved in constructing the Rozelle Parklands have agreed to forego $150,000 over asbestos-contaminated mulch — but could such an incident happen again?

Infrastructure behemoth John Holland Group and project partner CPB Contractors will pay the sum to the Environment Protection Authority (EPA), which will fund workers’ training in the safe handling of asbestos.

EPA chief executive officer Tony Chappel said that the investigation into the incident was the largest in its history. “While we acknowledge the joint venture did not produce the mulch, they delivered the Interchange project so had a responsibility to ensure that contaminated material was not brought onto the site as part of those works.”

Chappel said it is vital that “any potential issues” of the same kind in future are “are proactively investigated.”

“I’m pleased that as a result of this undertaking, more people who work with asbestos sources will receive training which will minimise the risk of such materials contaminating recycling and waste streams.”

The presence of contaminated mulch — material such as woodchips, placed atop soil — was revealed in January 2024, prompting the EPA to issue Transport for NSW a clean-up notice and causing the site’s closure. After a clean-up operation by John Holland and CPB, the parklands reopened in stages a few months later.

Prosecutions ongoing

The agency is currently prosecuting three companies and one individual over the incident, with 102 charges laid. The joint venture companies are not among the accused.

Amidst the scandal, a specialised multi-agency group called the NSW Asbestos Taskforce was formed. It is now involved in coordinating and prioritising responses to contamination.

Meanwhile, a review by the Office of the Chief Scientist and Engineer assessed how asbestos in recovered materials is managed, resulting in nine recommendations. Six were supported by the Government, with the other three accepted in-principle. Two of the latter were directed to the EPA, which is coordinating the Government’s response to the recommendations.

Wide-ranging response by EPA

A spokesperson for the agency, which is responsible for licensing the use of mulch and other recycled waste, said that it “takes strong regulatory action against companies and individuals that are responsible for asbestos waste crimes.”

“In 2024, NSW increased penalties for asbestos offences. Fines of up to $1 million for individuals and $4 million for corporations now apply for asbestos waste offences including illegal dumping and non-compliance with a resource recovery order.”

The EPA has gained “new product recall powers for materials that may be contaminated with harmful substances across an entire supply chain, to quickly safeguard human health and the environment and warn the public.”

“We also strengthened our investigative powers, improved and expanded clean-up notice controls, and introduced preliminary investigation notices to speed up testing and sampling.”

Finally, the agency “established a public ‘name and shame’ process to issue public warnings about poor environmental performers and sub-standard practices.”

A spokesperson for SafeWork NSW said that it “is aware of the incident and conducted proactive visits, to assist compliance during the make-safe activities, noting the matter is being investigated by the EPA.”

Lessons must be learned, says local MP

Greens Balmain MLA Kobi Shetty said that it is “good to see progress is being made and that the EPA is holding John Holland and CBP to account.”

“It’s deeply concerning that this happened. The safety of our community should never have been compromised.”

“I’m aware that the criminal charges against various parties are still before the courts. There must be lessons learned from this and I hope we never see anything like this happen again.”

Bad press for the parklands is seemingly unending. Part of a playground has now been fenced off after a black substance was discovered to be oozing out of timber.