Mulch potentially contaminated with asbestos, which has been linked to more than 40 affected sites in NSW, was sold in Canberra, the ACT government has confirmed.
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Stonehenge Beltana, in Pialligo, sold the product marketed as "cottage mulch" that was supplied from Greenlife Resource Recovery Facility, a south-west Sydney business. The facility has been linked to multiple contamination sites across Sydney.
No locations where the potentially contaminated mulch was distributed in Canberra have been released publicly.
"At this time it is thought that the risk of ACT government facilities, such as schools, having sourced and used the affected mulch is low. This will be further explored in coming days," an ACT government spokesperson said in a statement.
The spokesperson said the government was still investigating whether the mulch had been installed by private operators on publicly available sites, including independent schools.
The government earlier said the public health risk posed by bonded asbestos was low.
The ACT Environment Protection Authority was discussing the need to test sites where the mulch had been spread, including a remaining stockpile of the mulch at Stonehenge Beltana, the spokesperson said.
The ACT Environment Protection Authority was notified on February 17 the potentially contaminated mulch had been sold to Stonehenge Beltana.
The government said the potentially contaminated mulch had come into the ACT between March and November 2023, and had been delivered to 27 separate addresses.
"The ACT EPA has been advised that the mulch, marketed locally as 'cottage mulch', was sold on to 24 companies and 27 addresses in, and around, Canberra," the ACT government said on Monday afternoon.
"The ACT government has acted quickly to prevent any further sale of the potentially affected mulch.
"Records are held for many of the purchases, so most customers have already been contacted and informed by the retailer. Others will be contacted in the coming days as they are identified.
"The ACT EPA would like to thank Stonehenge Beltana for their co-operation and proactive approach in working to support the management of this issue and will also seek to contact known customers."
The ACT Environment Protection Authority will lead a taskforce to respond to the issue alongside WorkSafe ACT and other areas of the government.
NSW Environment Minister Penny Sharpe last week blamed regulatory failures for distribution of potentially contaminated mulch that has forced school closures and testing at hundreds of sites.
Professor Fraser Brims, an expert on asbestos exposure from Curtin University's medical school, last week said: "Asbestos is only a health concern when it is broken up into a dust and while any exposure to this should be avoided, the risk to health of a one-off exposure from one of these contaminated sites, whilst undesirable, is exceptionally low - so low we can't measure it.
"If someone has been exposed, it is vital to avoid tobacco and e-cigarettes/vaping as these products stop the lungs clearing out any inhaled dust, and are far more harmful to our lungs."
More than 40 sites in NSW, including schools, hospitals and parks, have been contaminated with asbestos contained inside recycled mulch.
Fire and Rescue NSW crews inspected more than 120 sites identified by the agency on the weekend.
More than 90 per cent of the mulch identified as potentially containing asbestos had been tested, NSW Premier Chris Minns told ABC Radio on Monday.
"We're getting towards the end so I don't want people to think this is never-ending," he said.
The government is considering potential increases to fines.
"We'll get the systems in place to make sure that if there's penalties imposed it's not just the cost of doing business for these big companies," Mr Minns said.
Sydney Olympic Park has been cleared ahead of a big weekend of concerts in the entertainment precinct, including Taylor Swift's shows.
The NSW Environment Protection Authority is investigating a complicated supply chain as its probes how the mulch became contaminated.
The authority's chief executive, Tony Chappel, on Sunday said the investigation would conclude with a full report to the public but cautioned against prematurely attributing blame.
The agency had been required to disclose a notice issued to Greenlife Resource Recovery preventing it supplying more mulch, which it is currently complying with, Mr Chappel said.
The company is challenging the prevention order in court.
Greenlife's mulch is independently tested by approved laboratories and the company was confident it left its facility free of contamination, the company said in a statement on Friday.
- with AAP
Jasper Lindell
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
