Fans with tickets to Taylor Swift’s highly anticipated concert in Sydney can wait anxiously as the venue is tested for asbestos.
Hundreds of thousands of fans of the pop superstar will descend on Sydney Olympic Park next week for the Australian leg of her Eras Tour – touted as one of the biggest concert tours of all time.
But an asbestos scare in NSW has prompted Sydney Olympic Park authorities to confirm they will test mulch used on a central reservation on a divided road at the complex.
It follows widespread contamination of garden mulch across the state.
The mulch at Sydney Olympic Park was confirmed to have come from a supply chain that is currently under investigation.
Taylor Swift fans with tickets to her Sydney shows are holding their breath after authorities confirmed the venue would be tested for asbestos
Hundreds of thousands of fans are expected to descend on Sydney’s Olympic Park next week
NSW Environment Minister Penny Sharpe said authorities examined the mulch and an initial test found no asbestos, but a back-up test was carried out as a precaution.
“We are testing samples, but either way we can remove the mulch and restore it in time for Taylor Swift to perform,” Ms Sharpe said.
“This won’t stop Taylor Swift from performing in Sydney.”
It follows The NSW Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a criminal investigation on Friday An investigation would investigate whether there was foul play in asbestos contamination of garden mulch used across Sydney.
More than seventy garden beds and parks are being tested in the city.
Asbestos has been found in several locations across the state, including a number of schools
There are 25 confirmed locations where the deadly material is stored, with St John of God Hospital in North Richmond, Kellyville Woolworths and a Transport for NSW park in Wiley Park added to the list of confirmed contamination locations.
Several schools have also been identified that are being tested as a precaution.
Southwest Sydney-based mulch supplier Greenlife Resource Recovery Facility (GRRF) is recycling wooden pallets into garden product linked to the material found at multiple contaminated sites.
Taylor Swift’s concert in Sydney will still go ahead as planned, with NSW Environment Minister Penny Sharpe saying affected venues could be remediated in time for next week’s concert
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But GRRF’s attorney Ross Fox said a test of the remaining stock of mulch at the operations center returned a negative result. the EPA visited their operations center and inspected their remaining stock of mulch.
Taylor Swift will perform her first show at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in Victoria tonight, performing her three-and-a-half-hour setlist every night until Sunday.
She will then fly to Sydney next week for the four-day run from February 23 to 26.
The pop singer spent last weekend in the US and traveled all over the world to see her boyfriend Travis Kelce during the Super Bowl.
– Additional reporting by Madeleine Achenza