More areas of Sydney’s Rozelle Parklands shut as authorities confirm asbestos found at three more sites

More areas of a newly-opened park in inner-city Sydney have been shut down after a deadly discovery in some of the area’s garden beds.

Mulch containing asbestos has been discovered at three more sites close to a newly-opened parkland in Sydney, prompting authorities to seal off the areas.

Ten areas in and around the Rozelle Parklands in inner-city Sydney have now been confirmed to have tested positive, after Transport for NSW confirmed on Saturday more areas had been discovered.

The three additional sites have since been closed off to the public.

The new sites were a part of the same landscaping work done inside areas of the parkland that have since returned a positive result for the potentially dangerous chemical.

The asbestos was first discovered on Tuesday and more parts of the park continue to be closed. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Damian Shaw

They are landscaped garden beds adjacent to the road and sidewalks around the Anzac Bridge, Victoria Rd and City West Link junction.

It is not known how long the contaminated material has been in the garden beds and playground mulch for, with Transport for NSW only confirming the landscaping work was done “near the end of 2023 prior to the final site audit and the opening of the park”.

Bonded asbestos, which is mixed with cement or other hard bonding materials, has a much lower risk compared to friable asbestos, which can be crushed by hand into dangerous airborne particles.

However, bonded asbestos can become friable if it is damaged or old.

Air monitoring of the site has also not found airborne particles “outside of normal expected parameters,” Thursday’s update said.

The parklands opened in November as a part of the problem-riddled Rozelle Interchange Project. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Damian Shaw

More than 85 samples from the park and surrounding areas have been independently tested — 13 have come back with positive results.

“Analysis of targeted samples taken from a number of other landscaped sites outside the main Rozelle Parklands will be completed in coming days,” Transport for NSW said in a statement.

“We thank the community for their patience and understanding while we work through the next steps and will update them as more information becomes available.”

Further analysis will be completed in the coming days.