NSW EPA commences prosecutions following asbestos investigation

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The New South Wales environmental watchdog has launched a suite of prosecutions after asbestos-contaminated mulch was found across dozens of sites across Sydney earlier this year.

Transcript

00:00The EPA says that this investigation is the largest in the agency's history.

00:06So in mid to early January, right here in Roselle Parklands, children had found contaminated

00:12mulch which had asbestos in it.

00:14Now the discovery of this contaminated substance triggered kind of a widespread panic across

00:20Greater Sydney and over several months we saw the closure of parks, schools, even part

00:27of a hospital and playgrounds.

00:29Now the Inner West Mayor who oversees this area has said that the outcome without commenting

00:35on the current court allegations is a great outcome but he did express his frustration

00:41earlier today.

00:43It was so frustrating that no one would take responsibility for cleaning up the asbestos

00:47and in fact this park was closed for many months, for much longer than it needed to

00:51be because everybody involved was pointing fingers rather than getting on with the cleanup.

00:56I make no comment about the specific allegations that will be determined by the court but it's

01:02a good thing that the government and the EPA have pursued this investigation because we

01:07have to send a message to everybody in the construction and waste sectors that you can't

01:12put the health and safety of children at risk.

01:15The EPA has put down 102 offences relating to 26 contaminated sites across NSW.

01:22We are going to hear more about them in the Land and Environment Court closer to the first

01:26directions hearing in February but what the allegations that the EPA have made public,

01:32they include carrying out scheduled activities without a licence, the reuses of asbestos

01:36waste and failing to carry out resource recovery competently.

01:40Three companies and one individual have been charged so far.

01:44What we can reveal is that one of the entities charged, Green Life Resource Recovery Facility

01:49which was supplying the mulch, it does say that it will defend these allegations in court.

01:55It maintains that it's had very strict environmental protection policies and it will say that the

02:01EPA to this day has not actually been able to test any positive test for asbestos positively

02:08at its site down in South West Sydney.

02:11Now it did also take a swipe at the EPA earlier today saying that the media had actually received

02:17notifications or details of the charges before it had actually been served documents.

02:22Now there's another particularly interesting charge which is against Arnold Botoko who

02:28is the sole director of VE Resource Facility, Resource Recovery Facility.

02:34Mr Botoko is a very wealthy businessman in NSW.

02:37He's known for being responsible for being, developing the Narellan Town Centre down in

02:42South West Sydney and is also known as the operator of Dessert Cafe Max Brenner.

02:46Now he has been slapped with an executive liability charge which effectively means that

02:50the EPA will need to prove in court that as the kind of director of this company that

02:57he was able to take reasonable steps to prevent an offence.

03:00So far he has not commented publicly on these allegations.

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