Australia, June 20 -- New South Wales Land and Environment Court issued text of the following judgement on May 19:

1. At all material times leading up to the commencement of these proceedings, the first cross-defendant Freescale Pty Limited (Freescale) and the second cross-defendant Runkorp Pty Limited (Runkorp) operated in partnership a business trading under the name Greenlife Resource Recovery Facility (Greenlife).

2. Mr Domenic Vitocco is the sole director of Freescale.

3. Mr Adrian Runko is the sole director of Runkorp.

4. It is alleged in the present proceedings, and in proceedings that the Environment Protection Authority has commenced in the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales against Freescale, Runkorp, and others for alleged breaches of the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (NSW) (the POEO Act), that the Greenlife business involved the supply of organic and recycled building and landscape materials, including mulch, that was processed at and supplied out of premises at 761 The Northern Road, Bringelly (the Premises).

5. It is alleged in the present proceedings that Greenlife sold to the defendant GMR Schembri Pty Ltd trading as Parklea Sand & Soil (Parklea) a product processed at and supplied out of the Premises known as 25mm Recycled Coarse Mulch (Greenlife Mulch).

6. Under Chapter 3 of the POEO Act, environment protection licences (or EPLs) may be issued to authorise the carrying out of "scheduled activities" at any premises as required by s 48 of that Act. Section 48 provides that the occupier of any premises at which an activity designated in Schedule 1 to the Act is carried out is guilty of an offence unless that person holds an EPL authorising that activity to be carried on at those premises.

7. The Premises are the subject of EPL No 11233 that was issued to VE Resource Recovery Pty Limited (VERR) on or about 18 October 2020 and, at all material times, authorised VERR to carry out the scheduled activities of composting, waste storage and recovery of waste at the Premises.

8. Mr Arnold Vitocco is the sole director of VERR.

9. It is alleged in the present proceedings that, during the period between about 21 June 2023 and 20 December 2023, Parklea supplied a mulch product known as Forest Mulch to the plaintiff, which was then known as Skyline Landscape Services Pty Limited but which has since changed its name to Green by Nature Landscape Services Pty Ltd (Skyline).

10. Skyline alleges that it supplied that Forest Mulch to the Council of the City of Sydney (the Council) as part of Skyline's contract to provide landscaping services within the City of Sydney Local Government Area. Skyline alleges that the Forest Mulch was deposited in at least 25 parks and reserves in that area, and was subsequently discovered to be contaminated with asbestos.

11. Parklea alleges that the Forest Mulch that it supplied to Skyline (and other customers) was Greenlife Mulch, which Parklea had acquired from Greenlife and on-sold under the name Forest Mulch or Forest Blend Mulch.

12. The EPA commenced an investigation into the supply of mulch from the Premises in January 2024.

*Rest of the document can be viewed at: (https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/196e6019093f0656f4fceb93)

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