Billionaire property developer Arnold Vitocco charged after asbestos contaminated mulch found across Sydney

A billionaire property developer as been charged after dozens of parks, schools and hospitals were forced to close down due to mulch contaminated with asbestos.

Director of VE Resource Recovery Arnold Vitocco has been charged with an executive liability offence over his company’s alleged breach of its environmental protection licence. 

Most of the contaminated mulch found across Sydney in January and February, this year, was traced back to the Greenlife Resource Recovery Facility, which runs under a license held by VE Resource Recovery. 

The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) is set to bring a total of 102 charges against the facility in the NSW Land and Environment Court. 

The charges are all centred on the waste recovery plant, located on The Northern Road in Bringelly, on the south western fringe of Sydney. 

The EPA explained the offences related to 26 of the 79 different sites were asbestos was found following the largest investigation in the history of the organisation. 

‘The prosecutions follow the largest investigation in the EPA’s history which was launched after bonded asbestos was discovered in mulch at Rozelle Parklands,’ EPA said in a statement. 

‘During the investigation over 300 sites were inspected, with 79 sites identified as having used contaminated mulch. All 79 sites have now been cleaned up by owners.’

Two entities trading as Greenlife Resource Recovery Facility including Freescale Trading Pty Ltd and Runkorp Pty Ltd, each face 50 charges related to the reuse of asbestos waste, carrying out scheduled activities without a licence and breaching a resource recovery order. 

Freescale’s director if Mr Vitocco’s son Domenic, while businessman Adrian Runko is the director of Runkorp. 

However, neither Domenic or Mr Runko are facing charges in relation to the asbestos-in-mulch crisis. 

The EPA has charged Mr Vitocco as director with an executive liability offence and his company VE Resource Recovery with failing to carry out its activities competently.

Greenlife Resource Recovery Facility said it would fight the charges, claiming the company has yet to be served any documents. 

‘Greenlife Resource Recovery Facility (GRRF) maintains its innocence and will strongly defend these allegations,’ a spokesperson told The Sydney Morning Herald. 

‘The media has been informed of the details before the company has been served with the file documents. GRRF maintains that no asbestos contamination has been discovered by the EPA now, or during any previous testing at its Bringelly site. 

‘GRRF takes its environmental obligations very seriously, does not accept demolition waste and has strict protocols to ensure its products are not contaminated before they leave the site.’

The spokesperson added the supply chain at a waste facility was ‘complex’, claiming there are several ways asbestos could contaminate materials. 

They said one way contamination could happen was when clean materials were delivered to a remediated site and then are mixed with existing materials onsite. 

The asbestos was discovered in dozens of parks, schools, children’s playgrounds and other facilities across Sydney. 

However, it was considered to pose a minimal health risk as most of the material was bonded or not friable – cannot be crumbled, pulverised or reduced to powder by hand – keeping the asbestos in place and therefore not easily inhaled. 

The first directions hearing is scheduled on February 7 at the NSW Land and Environment Court.