Asbestos material has now been confirmed in a sixth Melbourne council area.
,Victoria’s Environment Protection Authority Victoria said a sample taken from Dendy Park in Brighton,in Melbourne’s south-east yesterday contained asbestos.
The EPA said it had “determined that the piece of asbestos containing material was not part of the mulch delivered to the site.”
The number of Melbourne parks where asbestos has been found since the start of April has now climbed to 19.
Of the confirmed asbestos finds,14 have been in Hobsons Bay Council area,one in Brimbank,one in Merri-bek,one in Casey one in the City of Hume and now one in Bayside.
To date,the EPA has not explicitly ruled that any asbestos fragments in the mulch were introduced during the manufacturing processes,and instead suggested most cases were either illegal dumping or legacy asbestos that was already present.
Some industry insiders have cast doubt on these theories,and said there is potential for contamination in the manufacture of recycled wood mulch made from construction and demolition waste.
Earlier this year 75 sites in NSW,including seven schools,a supermarket,hospitals and numerous public parks,were found by that state’s EPA to contain asbestos in recycled mulch.
The EPA also said the following parks in Melbourne’s Hobsons Bay had reopened today following remediation work:
PA Burns Reserve,Altona
Newport Lakes Reserve,Newport
Truganina Park,Altona Meadows
Laverton Creek (rear of AB Shaw Reserve),Altona Meadows
Doug Grant Reserve,Altona