The highly publicised “sinking” at the housing development in Spring Farm has been linked to a remediation company that has been accused of failing to appropriately clean up asbestos-containing waste at another major site in Sydney.
SMEC Testing Services has been named in the NSW Supreme Court to remediate the area, located at Warwick Farm. The documents, filed by William Inglis & Son, who purchased the land, outline that the remediation was agreed to and would be performed “by utilising the specialist contamination assessment and remedial services of … SMEC”.
Inglis purchased the land and intended to build stables, but after discovering the undisclosed contamination at the eastern end of the property, plans to proceed with building was halted.
Inglis is suing SMEC, accusing it of negligence and misleading or deceptive conduct, claiming they failed to ensure all the land was properly assessed for potential contamination and appropriately remediated.
SMEC is disputing the claims by Inglis, saying that the former owner, ATC, was the only party that could rely on the provided site report and that “the presence of asbestos and fill materials was identified”.
SMEC further said it does not owe Inglis a duty of care, and the statutory limitation of actions has expired.
The ATC added that Inglis “was aware of the presence of the material it now describes as contamination” since 2009 and failed to take reasonable care.
The current owners have alleged that they are facing a bill of at least $22 million to remediate the land due to the damage left by SMEC Testing Services