A company linked to asbestos detections at multiple sites across NSW, including the Rozelle Parklands, has launched a legal bid to continue producing and supplying mulch.
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VE Resource Recovery was banned from producing mulch at its Bringelly production facility in far western Sydney, after asbestos detections were traced back to the site.
The Environmental Protection Authority issued a prevention notice in January requiring the company, which operates under the name Greenlife, to immediately cease production.
Lawyers for the company appeared in the Land and Environment Court on Friday to launch a legal bid challenging the order.
A date was set by the court for March 28, for representatives from the company and EPA to engage in discussions over disputed elements of the ban.
Lawyer for the EPA, Henry El-Hage SC, told the court the volume of documents sought by the company would only extend the timeframe for discussions.
"It's a plethora of material which is being sought," Mr El-Hage said.
Asbestos was detected at a string of sites across NSW after the initial discovery of bonded asbestos at the Rozelle Parklands in Sydney's inner west in January.
A supply-chain investigation revealed this week that so far, 75 asbestos-contaminated sites had been identified across Sydney, including at city parks, schools, hospitals and churches.
Tracing found the mulch used at Rozelle, as well as other sites of concern operated by Transport for NSW, the Prospect Highway Upgrade Project and the Sydenham to Bankstown Railway, was supplied by Greenlife.
The EPA ordered Greenlife to immediately cease any production of mulch products at the Bringelly facility, cease exporting any mulch products from the facility and not move any existing stockpiles of mulch until directed otherwise.
Breaches of the order carry a maximum penalty of $1,000,000 and a further $120,000 for each day the offence continues.
The company said in a statement in February that its testing showed mulch stockpiled at its facility was free of asbestos contamination.
It added that it was confident the material was also clean when delivered to contractors for landscaping.
"The company has no visibility of, and does not control, how its mulch is used on a site once delivered," it said in a statement.
Australian Associated Press
