Children's Hospital confirmed site in asbestos mulch crisis

Bonded asbestos was found in a construction site on the grounds of at the Children's Hospital at Westmead and the site has been fenced off with no public access.

A number of schools, hospitals and public places in regional NSW and Sydney have been closed to the public due to asbestos found in garden bed mulch.

Bonded asbestos was first found at the Rozelle Parklands in Sydney's inner west in early January.

Since then, the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) criminal investigation has broadened to become the largest in its history.

The EPA is investigating Greenlife Resouces Recovery Facility (GRRF), a company owned by billionaire Vitocco family, as the alleged source of contaminated mulch.

GRRF's lawyer Ross Fox denied the claim saying the company was "at risk of being made a scapegoat for failures in a complex supply chain for construction and landscaping projects".

The EPA has also found "construction and demolition waste" in GRRF's mulch.

Building materials including bricks, concrete, metal, timber, paper, plastics and glass could not be used in mulch production under NSW regulations.

The EPA said its investigation into the supply chain had "identified sites that may have received potentially contaminated mulch".

"These sites have been inspected by a licensed asbestos assessor and samples collected for analysis."

The following sites tested positive for asbestos contamination:

Schools that tested positive for asbestos:

All landowners have been advised to put measures in place to prevent public access and begin removal of the contaminated mulch, the EPA said.

Further sites with positive results are not being publicly identified for privacy reasons.

On February 19 the ACT government confirmed the mulch linked to contaminated sites had been sold in Canberra.

No locations have been released publicly and a taskforce has been established to respond.

The NSW Government announced an Asbestos Taskforce had been formed on February 15 adding extra support and resources to the EPA's investigation.

The taskforce is led by the NSW Asbestos Coordination Committee chair and includes representatives from a number of government agencies.

"The NSW Government is committed to ensuring the community is safe from any potential harmful impacts of contact with asbestos," environment minister Penny Sharpe said.

"Our number one priority is to finish contract tracing the supply chain - so that any potential receiver of the mulch is notified. That means we can take immediate action to make the area safe," she said.

"The surge workforce means we can get to the bottom of the supply chain much faster.

"I am also taking advice on options to strengthen penalties for those who do the wrong thing."

The type of asbestos found at all sites except one is called non-friable or bonded asbestos and considered a low risk to public health and the environment.

Friable asbestos, which can be easily crumbled or reduced to a powder, poses a higher risk of releasing airborne fibres, according to NSW Health.

The City of Sydney confirmed friable asbestos had been found in mulch at Harmony Park in Surry Hills, which was closed for the contaminated mulch to be cleaned up.

Breathing in asbestos fibres could cause a number of fatal illnesses including asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma, NSW Health said.

"The risk of contracting these diseases increases with the number of fibres inhaled and the risk of lung cancer from inhaling asbestos fibres is also greater if you smoke," NSW Health said.

"People who get health problems from inhaling asbestos have usually been exposed to high levels of asbestos for a long time.

"The symptoms of these diseases do not usually appear until about 20 to 30 years after the first exposure to asbestos."

With Australian Associated Press