Twenty-five entities, including one school, may have received asbestos laced compost from an Ipswich waste operator.
It comes after a small amount of the hazardous material was detected in a compost stockpile at NuGrow’s Swanbank facility.
Authorities including the Department of Environment, Science and Innovation as well as Workplace Health and Safety are now racing to find the source of the contamination.
The 25 entities received material from NuGrow since February 2nd.
Deputy Director General of Industrial Relations Peter McKay said the 25 entities were confirmed after authorities received information requested from Nu Grow yesterday morning.
“We’re working with them to clarify whether those 25 entities are only from the one stock pile that returned the positive test or whether they are from a broader range stockpile .
“An Independent school as well as several landscape suppliers received product from the site,” he said.
Deputy Director General Peter McKay said that the discovery of asbestos came about as a result of precautionary testing in the South-east in the midst of a contamination crisis in NSW.
“We have only identified one small positive result from the testing we have done so far at Nu Grow Ipswich.
“My hope is that we can work through the list and understand the supply chain where this product has come in and gone too — so we can work with those individuals,” he said.
NuGrow Ipswich is now under an emergency direction order to contain any further movement of potential asbestos contaminated compost.
West Moreton Health is also stepping up its precautionary air quality testing as well as expanding their targeted inspection across the South-east to include other Nu Grow facilities in Bundaberg, Rockhampton and on the Western Darling Downs.
