A surprising twist in Sydney's asbestos crisis after hazardous material was found hiding in mulch around the city

Sydney City Council was urged to test parks for asbestos, a month before revelations emerged that the dangerous material was hiding in mulch around the city.

Councilor Linda Scott wrote to council chief executive Monica Barone on January 13 with her concerns after the material was discovered at Rozelle Parklands in inner Sydney.

Greenlife Resource Recovery was named by the NSW government as the alleged source of the asbestos-contaminated mulch spread on public land across the city, including parks at the new Rozelle Interchange.

Ms Scott asked whether the council had used mulch from Greenlife Resource Recovery and whether the City of Sydney's parks would be tested.

“I would appreciate if we could do that given the community concerns and the serious risk to health posed by the discovery of asbestos,” the Labor councilor wrote.

“Residents have contacted me with concerns.”

However, the parks were not tested because the municipality was told by a contractor that the mulch did not come from Greenlife.

The revelation comes after asbestos was discovered in parks, hospitals and schools, forcing the cancellation of the opening event of the annual Mardi Gras Fair Day.

“Over a month ago I wrote to the CEO of the City of Sydney requesting that every City of Sydney park be tested in light of the discovery of asbestos at the Rozelle interchange,” Ms Scott told Daily Mail Australia.

“A few days later, I was disappointed to receive a response that ruled out testing all of the city's parks.

“If we had tested the parks at the time, we could have potentially prevented public exposure to asbestos in at least three of our city parks for a month and potentially facilitated Mardi Gras Fair Day.”

Ms Scott said public health should come before financial considerations.

'When we are dealing with asbestos, the precautionary principle must apply. We need to overtest instead of trying to save money and not testing.

'This is a public health and safety issue and one fiber is enough to cause asbestosis. For those reasons, I asked for every city park to be tested.

Sydney Mayor Clover Moore accused Ms Scott of “rushing to headlines” over the issue.

In response, the Labor councilor said it was 'disappointing to see…Ms Moore attacking me today claiming I am looking for a headline about my quest to fight for the public health and safety of the residents of the city.

“I think her attack on me is political and unnecessary. What we need here is a focus on what the city did wrong and what we need an independent investigation into.”

Ms Scott wants 'every park' tested and 'calls on the Mayor to ensure she supports an independent inquiry into tackling this asbestos crisis'.

Six days after receiving Ms. Scott's letter on Jan. 13, Ms. Barone reportedly told her colleagues that the council had not received mulch from Greenlife in the past two years.

But on Monday evening she said the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) had advised her to test five parks because some mulch might have come from Greenlife after all.

Three out of five people tested returned positive results for mulch contaminated with asbestos.

The NSW EPA has given Greenlife a deadline of Friday to contact anyone they have supplied with recycled mulch to begin the clean-up operation.

But Greenlife general manager Domenic Vitocco, son of billionaire boss Arnold Vitocco (59), insists his company is not to blame.

“We feel like we have been scapegoated,” he told Daily Mail Australia.

'We are not yet entirely sure how this could have happened.

“All EPA tests came back clean from our yard. Our tests showed clearly and we are a little surprised at how this all happens.

'During the investigation I can't really talk much, but what I do know is that a number of these sites are major remediation sites… but I can't comment further on that.'

Most of the asbestos found so far is bonded asbestos, which poses less risk, but the more dangerous friable asbestos was discovered at Harmony Park in Surry Hills on Monday.

NSW Premier Chris Minns vowed to prosecute those responsible following the latest discovery, saying Greenlife was in his crosshairs.

He insisted the government was “not aware of any other company or corporation that may have been responsible for the distribution.”

“It is fair to say that the company disputes the suggestion that they are responsible for pollution within public facilities and public parks,” he said.

'That particular type of (friable) asbestos – and not the bonded asbestos – found in a Sydney park is of great concern… This is completely unacceptable.

“We (must) ensure that compliance measures are taken against companies that are (allegedly) doing the wrong thing.

'A situation cannot arise where large public facilities such as schools and parks contain asbestos. The government is prepared to take action.'

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Ms Moore for comment.