Middle Harbour: Asbestos discovery at Parr Point Reserve prompts clean-up plan
The discovery of asbestos as a popular northern Sydney park has prompted the state government to release plans for a major clean-up operation at the site.
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The discovery of asbestos as a popular northern Sydney park has prompted the state government to release plans for a major clean-up operation at the site.
Fragments of the potentially dangerous material have been detected at Parr Point Reserve at Killarney Heights – metres away from walking tracks and the Middle Harbour foreshore.
The asbestos is located directly under Roseville Bridge and is believed to be contained within mixed construction and demolition waste which was dumped at the site.
Transport for NSW, which owns the land, has estimated 80 cubic metres of the material was found during an inspection.
The discovery has prompted the transport department to release a $463,100 plan to remove the asbestos and remediate the site.
“Analysis confirmed the samples of fibre cement products contained asbestos. Although some of the fragments were considered non-friable, a lot of the fragments were deemed to be in a poor, weathered, friable state,” the clean-up plans states.
“Various different types of fibre cement were present indicating that the source of the asbestos is from different products, indicative of mixed construction/demolition aggregate or waste.
“Transport for NSW decided that a program of remediation was required to mitigate the potential health risks.”
Plans state removing the asbestos would reduce impacts of the material potentially impacting, Middle Harbour as well as risks to the public.
The clean-up will involve removing and disposing the material at a licensed landfill facility.
The site will then be remediated by filling the excavation with soil materials to a level commensurate with surrounding site conditions.
Transport for NSW said temporary mitigation measures have been put in place including laying a geofabric layer over the impacted area.
Public access to the site has also been restricted with temporary fencing erected around the site.
The clean-up plan will require approval from Northern Beaches Council.
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