EPA investigation update: Liverpool asbestos

The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) investigation into asbestos fragments found at two Liverpool City Council sites in August 2025 has found that fragments are unlikely to have come from recovered fines material. 

Recovered fines are the residue remaining after all recyclable construction waste material has been removed from skip bins and other recovered materials.

EPA officers inspected both the Pye Hill Reserve and Chipping Norton sites and compared materials with samples taken from Hi Quality Brandown Resource Recovery Facility in Cecil Park, which supplied recovered fines to the Council. 

Testing results from the Brandown Facility to date have detected low levels of asbestos in only one sample. Officers also reviewed the mandatory testing reports at the facility over the past five months which showed asbestos levels below reporting thresholds in materials on-site. 

The EPA does not believe the asbestos fragments are from recovered fines materials due to their size. We suspect these fragments are more likely to have come from other sources such as existing soil contamination, illegal dumping or other materials brought onto the sites. Investigation of other construction materials, such as road base, will continue. 

Importantly, the sites remain safe and the public health risk is very low. Air monitoring by Liverpool City Council detected no asbestos fibres. 

Council has addressed the asbestos issue, completing a thorough clean-up at Pye Hill Reserve. The Chipping Norton site on Rickard Road has been assessed and isolated and cleanup is being finalised. 

The EPA was advised on 22 October 2025 that Council is also investigating three additional sites and will provide the EPA with the outcomes once available.

Anyone who sees material they suspect may contain asbestos can report it to their local council or the EPA environment line at [email protected].