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A former associate of the Rebels bikie gang dumped more than 2800 tonnes of asbestos-laced construction waste on private properties in south-west Sydney after duping property owners into believing he was sending them normal dirt.
Andrew Hughes and his company Ant Civil Pty Ltd were ordered to pay $335,043 in penalties and costs by Liverpool Local Court, and clean up the sites they contaminated in Rossmore and Thirlmere within 30 days.
“These were deliberate and egregious crimes, with text messages revealing Mr Hughes directed contractors to ‘tip’ directly into the dam at one of his client’s properties,” said a NSW Environment Protection Authority spokesperson.
Landowners at the semi-rural properties in Rossmore and Thirlmere had responded to advertisements in 2020 offering “free fill” to level sections of their land.
But when trucks arrived, the loads were packed with contaminants including broken bricks, shredded plastic, concrete and tiles.
Photos show weathered fragments of bonded asbestos sheets mingled with the dumped waste on the properties.
“Mr Hughes had promised to deliver clean fill but testing by EPA and council officers confirmed asbestos waste, as well as concrete, bricks, plastic and other debris, was mixed into the soil,” the spokesperson said.
“The pollution was done knowingly and caused a risk of harm to the environment as well as distress to the landowners, who unwittingly accepted the contaminated fill.”
Hughes pleaded guilty via video link.
Hughes is also facing pollution charges in separate cases before the NSW Land and Environment Court, including charges related to the alleged dumping of over 100,000 tonnes of contaminated material on a property he part-owned at Wheeny Creek in Sydney’s north-west.
EPA investigators allege the huge volume of polluted waste was taken by truck to the bush property and dumped along a ridge line between 2000 and 2023.
Evidence was gathered via secret cameras, drones and covert surveillance by EPA officers.
When the site was investigated, an excavator dug to a depth of seven metres and was still digging through contaminated waste.
Toxic sludge was found to be leaching from the site when the Herald visited in 2024.
Water tests showed that a protected wetland next to the dump site was “highly contaminated by a cocktail of metals at concentrations known to be hazardous to aquatic life”, according to Western Sydney University Professor Ian Wright.
The Wheeny Creek site was sold in 2024 for just $50,000, less than a tenth of the $510,000 it was bought for in 2020, property records indicate.
Hughes is also facing illegal dumping charges related to a property in Windsor Downs, in Sydney’s north-west, and Bilpin in the Blue Mountains.
When this masthead visited the Bilpin site, fragments of asbestos material, along with other construction waste, were visible on the surface of the alleged dump site.
Hughes and his family left Australia in 2023, claiming they feared for their lives.
In an affidavit tendered to the Land and Environment Court, Hughes said he had received threats and he could not afford to return to Australia to give evidence.
The family’s location was not disclosed to the court “other than being somewhere in South-East Asia”.
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Ben Cubby is an investigative reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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