Sydney City Council ignored calls to test parks for asbestos a month before the dangerous material was found in mulch in three different public places.
Councilor Linda Scott wrote to the council’s chief executive Monica Barone on January 13, days after asbestos was first found in Rozelle Parklands, in the midlands.
Ms Scott asked whether the council had used Greenlife Resource Recovery to supply the mulch to its parks and wondered if the council would conduct testing.
Greenlife Resource Recovery was named by the NSW government as the alleged source of the asbestos-contaminated mulch, but the family behind the company has denied and accused any wrongdoing.
The council was told by a contractor that the mulch did not come from Greenlife and as a result no orders were given to carry out testing in the 400 parks and thousands of green beds within the electorate.
Since then, bound asbestos has been found in mulch in Victoria Park and Belmore Park, while friable asbestos was discovered in Harmony Park in Surry Hills.
More than a dozen other sites have been flagged for containing the hazardous material, including a hospital and a school where asbestos has been detected, from the CBD to the Emu Plains at the foot of the Blue Mountains, and from Parramatta to Campbelltown.
Sydney’s Victoria Park, where bound asbestos was found in mulch, is pictured on Wednesday, February 14, 2024
But Greenlife chief executive Domenic Vitocco, son of billionaire boss Arnold Vitocco (59), insists his company is not to blame
The revelation comes after asbestos was discovered in parks, hospitals and schools, forcing the cancellation of the opening event of the annual Mardi Gras Fair Day.
“Over a month ago I wrote to the CEO of the City of Sydney requesting that every City of Sydney park be tested in light of the discovery of asbestos at the Rozelle interchange,” Ms Scott told Daily Mail Australia.
“A few days later, I was disappointed to receive a response that ruled out testing all of the city’s parks.
“If we had tested the parks at the time, we could have potentially prevented public exposure to asbestos in at least three of our city parks for a month and potentially facilitated Mardi Gras Fair Day.”
Ms Scott said public health should come before financial considerations.
‘When we are dealing with asbestos, the precautionary principle must apply. We need to overtest instead of trying to save money and not testing.
‘This is a public health and safety issue and one fiber is enough to cause asbestosis. For those reasons, I asked for every city park to be tested.
Sydney Mayor Clover Moore accused Ms Scott of “rushing to headlines” over the issue.
In response, the Labor councilor said it was ‘disappointing to see…Ms Moore attacking me today claiming I am looking for a headline about my quest to fight for the public health and safety of the residents of the city.
“I think her attack on me is political and unnecessary. What we need here is a focus on what the city did wrong and what we need an independent investigation into.”
Ms Scott wants ‘every park’ tested and ‘calls on the Mayor to ensure she supports an independent inquiry into tackling this asbestos crisis’.
Six days after receiving Ms. Scott’s letter on Jan. 13, Ms. Barone reportedly told her colleagues that the council had not received mulch from Greenlife in the past two years.
The revelation comes after asbestos was discovered in parks, hospitals and schools, forcing the cancellation of the opening event of the annual Mardi Gras Fair Day.
But on Monday evening she said the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) had advised her to test five parks because some mulch might have come from Greenlife after all.
Three out of five people tested returned positive results for mulch contaminated with asbestos.
The NSW EPA has given Greenlife a deadline of Friday to contact anyone they have supplied with recycled mulch to begin the clean-up operation.
But Greenlife general manager Domenic Vitocco, son of billionaire boss Arnold Vitocco (59), insists his company is not to blame.
“We feel like we have been scapegoated,” he told Daily Mail Australia.
‘We are not yet entirely sure how this could have happened.
“All EPA tests came back clean from our yard. Our tests showed clearly and we are a little surprised at how this all happens.
‘During the investigation I can’t really talk much, but what I do know is that a number of these sites are major remediation sites… but I can’t comment further on that.’
Sydney councilor Linda Scott (pictured) wrote to council chief executive Monica Barone on January 13 with her concerns after asbestos was discovered at Rozelle Parklands
Sydney Mayor Clover Moore (pictured) said it could not have tested all 400 parks and thousands of garden beds under council control ‘when there was no indication there was a problem’
Most of the asbestos found so far is bonded asbestos, which poses less risk, but the more dangerous friable asbestos was discovered at Harmony Park in Surry Hills on Monday.
NSW Premier Chris Minns vowed to prosecute those responsible following the latest discovery, saying Greenlife was in his crosshairs.
He insisted the government was “not aware of any other company or corporation that may have been responsible for the distribution.”
“It is fair to say that the company disputes the suggestion that they are responsible for pollution within public facilities and public parks,” he said.
“That specific type of (friable) asbestos – and not the bonded asbestos – found in a Sydney park is of great concern… This is completely unacceptable.
“We (must) ensure that compliance measures are taken against companies that are (allegedly) doing the wrong thing.
‘A situation cannot arise where large public facilities such as schools and parks contain asbestos. The government is prepared to take action.’
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Ms Moore for comment.