Victoria’s Environment Protection Authority has slapped a local council with two remedial notices following concerns over asbestos-contaminated mulch in parks.
On Sunday, the EPA ordered Hobsons Bay City Council to inspect all council-managed parks and gardens that have received mulch in the past 18 months.
Under the conditions of the notices, work must start this Monday, and be completed by May 10.
The council must also provide the EPA with a list of all suppliers used to source mulch over the same 18-month period.
Another park joins growing list
It comes as a dog park in Altona North, PA Burns Reserve, joined a growing list of Melbourne reserves suspected to be contaminated with asbestos.
New mulch around the reserve’s toilet blocks was found to be contaminated with building waste, with the EPA sending six samples of potential asbestos for priority testing.
Another three parks in the same suburb — Crofts, GJ Hosken and PJ Lynch reserves — were also affected, with testing continuing.
On Saturday, Victoria’s Environment Protection Authority (EPA) inspected six parks across Hobsons Bay and Merri-bek council areas, with inspections continuing on Sunday.
At Shore Reserve in Pascoe Vale South, Saturday’s EPA inspections led to three pieces of potential asbestos being removed for testing, with the pieces “considerably larger than mulch”.
Contamination has also been found in soil at Hosken Reserve in Coburg North and at the base of a tree in Spotswood’s Donald McLean Reserve.
In a statement on Sunday, the EPA said it believed much of the contaminated material found may be the result of illegal dumping.
It had “stringent requirements” on the waste and recycling industry, including significant penalties, to prevent harm to the environment and human health, including from asbestos contamination, the authority said.
‘Incredibly important issue’: premier
Premier Jacinta Allan said the EPA had been proactive in its inspections.
“I understand this is an incredibly important issue for the community to know that, whether it’s playgrounds, whether it’s the removal of asbestos from building sites, that it’s done In a safe and responsible manner,” Ms Allan said.
“We need to allow the EPA to conclude those investigations and provide that information to the community and I have impressed on them, in a timely way.”
On Sunday, the opposition called on the state government to emulate NSW in establishing an asbestos taskforce.
Last November, the auditor-general warned that measures to reduce illegal asbestos disposal were not coordinated across agencies.
By not collecting or sharing data on illegal disposal, agencies did not understand the scale of the issue, whether they were making the right decisions to address it and if the measures they were taking were working, the auditor-general said.
The EPA urged anyone who spotted suspicious material to contact their local council environmental health officer or the EPA, and to avoid handling the item.