Overview
On 30 March 2026, the NSW Environment Protection Authority announced a legally binding Enforceable Undertaking with the John Holland and CPB Contractors joint venture, requiring a $150,000 payment directed to SafeWork NSW. The payment will fund specialist training for workers in asbestos identification and safe handling. This enforcement action arises from the discovery of asbestos-contaminated mulch at the Rozelle Parklands in January 2024, an incident that triggered what the EPA has described as the largest single investigation in its history.
What makes this enforcement action particularly significant for environmental and construction professionals is the EPA’s own admission that the joint venture did not produce the contaminated mulch. NSW EPA CEO Tony Chappel explicitly acknowledged this point in the public announcement. The penalty was imposed because, as principal contractors responsible for delivering the project, the joint venture failed to prevent contaminated material from entering the site. That distinction is the central regulatory precedent of this case: responsibility for the quality of imported materials rests with whoever controls the site and the procurement process, regardless of where contamination originated.
For developers, civil contractors, environmental consultants, and site auditors working across Australia, this outcome establishes new benchmarks for supply chain due diligence. Accepting supplier certifications, exemption dockets, or visual inspections as sufficient verification is no longer a defensible risk management position. The Rozelle case has established a clear regulatory expectation that head contractors must independently verify the quality of any material brought onto a project site, and the EPA has demonstrated it is prepared to enforce that expectation through legally binding instruments.
Key details of the Rozelle Parklands Enforceable Undertaking
The Enforceable Undertaking accepted by the NSW EPA on 30 March 2026 binds the John Holland and CPB Contractors joint venture, which was the principal contracting entity for the Rozelle Interchange project. The $150,000 payment is directed specifically to SafeWork NSW to fund specialist asbestos identification and safe handling training for workers in the construction sector. An Enforceable Undertaking under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (POEO Act) is a legally binding agreement, distinct from a court-imposed penalty, but it carries enforceable obligations and is a matter of public record.
The contaminated mulch was discovered at Rozelle Parklands in January 2024. The parklands were subsequently closed for remediation and reopened on 30 April 2024. The closure extended beyond an original February 2024 target deadline after extensions were granted to allow thorough remediation to be completed. The EPA’s clean-up notice for the Rozelle Parklands site was issued to Transport for NSW, not directly to the joint venture, which further illustrates the layered nature of regulatory liability across a project with multiple responsible parties.
This Enforceable Undertaking is entirely separate from criminal proceedings that are already underway. In December 2024, the EPA commenced 102 charges in the NSW Land and Environment Court against three companies and one individual connected to the production and supply of the contaminated mulch: VE Resource Recovery Pty Ltd, Freescale Trading Pty Ltd, Runkorp Pty Ltd (trading as Greenlife Resource Recovery Facility), and Arnold Vitocco, sole director of VE Resource Recovery Pty Ltd. The fact that the EPA is simultaneously pursuing the mulch producers in court and the receiving contractor through an Enforceable Undertaking demonstrates that the regulator is applying liability at every point in the supply chain, not just at the source of contamination.
The regulatory framework governing the production and use of mulch in NSW is established through the Mulch Order 2016 and the Mulch Exemption 2016, which sit within the NSW EPA’s Resource Recovery Framework under the POEO Act. These instruments set conditions under which mulch and other recovered organic materials can be produced and supplied without requiring a waste licence for each transaction. When a supplier operates under an exemption, the receiving party typically relies on declarations of compliance. The Rozelle case has demonstrated that relying on those declarations without independent verification creates material legal and financial exposure for the receiving contractor.
Australian context: contaminated mulch, NEPM 2013, and supply chain liability for construction projects
Asbestos in soil and imported fill materials is assessed in Australia under the National Environment Protection (Assessment of Site Contamination) Measure 1999, as amended in 2013, universally referred to as the NEPM 2013. This is the current mandatory framework for characterising asbestos contamination at Australian sites, and it applies to imported materials as well as in-situ soils. Sampling densities, analytical methodologies, and reporting requirements for asbestos in soil must align with the NEPM 2013. Environmental practitioners designing validation sampling plans for imported fill, mulch, or other bulk materials must ensure their methodologies conform to this framework. Critically, AS 4482.1-2005, which previously guided soil sampling for asbestos, has been withdrawn with no replacement standard issued. Any sampling plan or audit report that references AS 4482.1-2005 as a current compliance basis is relying on a superseded document, which exposes clients to regulatory rejection and professional liability.
The Rozelle case has national relevance because the supply chain dynamics it exposed are not unique to New South Wales. Across Australia, large civil infrastructure and urban development projects routinely i
Background and context
Rozelle Interchange Head Contractors Pay $150k Over Asbestos Mulch in Landmark NSW EPA Enforceable Undertaking
On 30 March 2026, the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) announced a legally binding Enforceable Undertaking (EU) with the John Holland and CPB Contractors joint venture, requiring a $150,000 payment. This action stems from the highly publicised discovery of asbestos-contaminated mulch at the Rozelle Parklands in January 2024, which triggered the largest investigation in the EPA's history.
Crucially, NSW EPA CEO Tony Chappel explicitly acknowledged that the joint venture did not produce the contaminated mulch. However, as the principal contractors delivering the project, they were held ultimately responsible for failing to prevent contaminated material from entering the site. The $150,000 penalty will be directed to SafeWork NSW to fund specialist training for workers on asbestos identification and safe handling.
The Rozelle Parklands reopened on 30 April 2024 following remediation. However, the EPA's clean-up notice was issued to Transport for NSW — not directly to the joint venture — and the parklands closure extended beyond the original February 2024 deadline after extensions were granted. The EPA noted that this EU is entirely separate from the 102 charges commenced in December 2024 against three companies (VE Resource Recovery Pty Ltd, Freescale Trading Pty Ltd, and Runkorp Pty Ltd trading as Greenlife Resource Recovery Facility) and one individual (Arnold Vitocco, sole director of VE Resource Recovery Pty Ltd) in the NSW Land and Environment Court.
Why it Matters for Environmental Professionals and Their Clients
Did you know the Rozelle Parklands asbestos crisis triggered the largest single investigation in the NSW EPA's history? This latest penalty proves a hard truth for the civil and environmental sectors: ignorance of your supply chain is no defence.
References and related sources
- Primary source: www.epa.nsw.gov.au
- NSW EPA
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This is an iEnvi Machete news summary. Prepared by iEnvi to summarise the source article for contaminated land, groundwater, remediation, approvals and site risk professionals.
Published: 31 Mar 2026
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