Billionaire property developer Arnold Vitocco charged after asbestos contaminated mulch found across Sydney

A billionaire property developer has been sued after dozens of parks, schools and hospitals were forced to close due to asbestos-contaminated mulch.

Director of VE Resource Recovery Arnold Vitocco has been sued for liability over his company’s alleged violation of its environmental protection permit.

Most of the contaminated mulch found in Sydney in January and February earlier this year was traced to the Greenlife Resource Recovery Facility, which operates under a license from VE Resource Recovery.

The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) will lay a total of 102 charges against the facility in the NSW Land and Environment Court.

The charges all relate to the waste treatment facility, located on The Northern Road in Bringelly, on the southwestern edge of Sydney.

The EPA explained that the violations were associated with 26 of 79 different locations where asbestos was found after the largest investigation in the organization’s history.

“The prosecutions follow the largest investigation in EPA history, which was launched after bonded asbestos was discovered in mulch at Rozelle Parklands,” EPA said in a statement.

‘More than 300 sites were inspected during the study, with 79 sites using contaminated mulch. All 79 sites have now been cleared by the owners.’

Two entities trading as Greenlife Resource Recovery Facility, including Freescale Trading Pty Ltd and Runkorp Pty Ltd, are each facing 50 charges relating to the reuse of asbestos waste, carrying out planned activities without a permit and breaching an injunction order resource recovery.

Freescale’s director is Mr Vitocco’s son Domenic, while businessman Adrian Runko is Runkorp’s director.

However, neither Domenic nor Mr. Runko face charges in connection with the asbestos-in-mulch crisis.

More to come…