Save Oz Mulch, our family-run green waste recycling business from unethical EPA attack
Save Oz Mulch, our family-run green waste recycling business from unethical EPA attack
The issue
Listen to our latest story on ABC Newcastle
The NSW EPA is currently investigating misconduct, maladministration and corruption, surrounding its attack on our family green waste recycling business, Oz Mulch, in the Lake Macquarie/Newcastle region of NSW.
The EPA has also referred the matter to the NSW Ombudsman and the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC).
By the time the truth is out, it will be too late. The EPA is trying to revoke our licence altogether.
NSW Greens MP, Sue Higginson, appeared on A Current Affair, in support of our business. Ms Higginson called for an inquiry into the EPA, saying communities all over NSW are losing faith and trust in the EPA at rapid rates, and the evidence suggests there is enormous scope for reform.
Ms Higginson wrote to the EPA CEO on 7 January 2025, to request that no further regulatory action be taken against Oz Mulch until the EPA misconduct investigation is complete, and urging review of our licence conditions to be more appropriate for a small business that recycles backyard green waste. The head of the EPA responded saying they won't stop.
We need your help to demand the EPA cease action against OZ Mulch until an independent investigation into EPA conduct is complete.
Watch our story on A Current Affair, 25 January 2025 here: https://fb.watch/wUfU5r2M81/ (6:18)
Who is Oz Mulch
Oz Mulch is a family-owned green waste recycling business that has served the community of Lake Macquarie and Newcastle for more than 20 years, taking people's green waste, like leaves, branches and backyard greenery, and recycling it into landscape supplies, like mulch and soil.
What did the EPA do?
The NSW EPA constructed red tape to close our family business in May 2023.
We won the Court appeal
After more than a year of fighting, the NSW Land and Environment Court has upheld our appeal.
No environmental harm
Two independent environmental experts agreed there had been no environmental harm on the site or to the surrounding environment. The EPA’s own expert said there are no environmental reasons why the business couldn’t have continued to operate.
The EPA continues to lie
A nameless and faceless EPA spokeswoman lied to you and every person in NSW when she told the media; "EPA testing of the groundwater downstream found ammonia up to 10 times above the guideline values."
The EPA have NEVER tested the groundwater on or around our site. Ammonia levels above the guidelines have never been found downstream of our site. We have never had any water of environmental concern leave our site. When media has asked for evidence to prove this claim, the EPA can't provide it - because it does not exist.
Are you OK with the EPA lying to you? Are you concerned that the EPA has the power to do this and get away with it?
Express your outrage and demand they are held accountable - send a letter to the editor of the Newcastle Herald.
The human impact has been devastating
It has cost us everything we have to fight and get the finding we knew all along. We are fighting for the livelihood of eighteen employees who depend on us and the 15,000 clients, including tradies and local businesses, who rely on our service. Recycling green waste is a valuable part of the circular economy.
Public money wasted
The EPA has spent over 3 years and millions of dollars of public money, taking a prejudiced and heavy-handed approach, that has nothing to do with the environment. Their unprecedented powers, designed to protect the environment, have been misused to intentionally strangle our small family business in administrative red tape and close us down forever.
EPA misleading Council
The EPA has misled council to approve a simple DA modification to clarify our operations will be no bigger than any standard landscapes supplies yard. The EPA's own internal memo to influence Council to "STOP THE CLOCK" seems to be working. The EPA has led Council to evaluate our site as though it will be 20-100 times bigger.
Council has stalled a simple DA modification decision for over 2 years
Currently the Council is stalling its decision, based on the ‘feeling’ of a single person, with no expert credentials, who refuses to listen to hundreds of documents from engineers, environmental experts and 15 years of data, and pleas from members of our community for us to reopen. He is ignoring the evidence and says he ‘feels the site is not suitable’.
The real cost is on the environment
The EPA has been so focused on attacking our business at all costs, that it has turned a blind-eye to real pollution happening around the State.
WHY we’ve been attacked?
It was personal.
The officer that has driven the entire action has a conflict of interest.
The EPA ignored it, allowing us to be targeted, and for incorrect and misleading information to influence the most Senior NSW Government officials including the Minister for the Environment, and close our business.
More than a year of stalling – the EPA has been turning a blind eye saying unethical activity ‘isn’t illegal’
In December 2024, after more than a year of stalling and ignoring evidence of unethical and misleading dealings with Oz Mulch, the EPA finally agreed to investigate the misconduct, but it says it will not stop pushing the unnecessary, unfair and unreasonable regulatory action to put the nail in the coffin of our business.
No ramifications
The EPA agrees that it failed to respond to correspondence and evidence proving our business should not be closed for the 5 months period before the unnecessary closure of Oz Mulch. When asked if there would were ramifications, the EPA simply said ‘sorry’ but ‘it’s not illegal.’
EPA allowed to mark its own homework
In August 2024, the EPA deemed that it wasn’t even worth investigating if the EPA had demonstrated effective use of public resources, if they had made good decisions, and if the outcomes were reasonable in the circumstances.
Delays to “Stop the Clock” on our business
The EPA finally opened an investigation into misconduct, maladministration and corruption when we presented further evidence, obtained through freedom of information, that could not be ignored. This evidence was under the EPA’s noses the entire time – the EPA delayed providing this evidence to us 100 days.
DISGUSTING.
By the time the truth is out, it will be too late. The EPA is trying to revoke our licence altogether at the end of this month.
Please help us to demand the EPA cease action against OZ Mulch until an independent investigation into EPA conduct is complete.
Minister has no power over the EPA – all the EPA cares about is its reputation
The Minister doesn’t have the power to stop the EPA’s attack. The EPA can still do the right thing – Have the matter independently investigated – and pause further decision and attack on Oz Mulch until a full investigation is complete.
The EPA is more concerned with preserving its reputation than doing the right thing.
Evidence gained through Freedom of Information proves that the EPA was only worried about the risk to its own reputation when it closed us down, after ignoring all of our evidence disproving their claims, and our pleas to work together to find solutions.
The EPA is now trying to stop us from seeing over 500 emails between its own executive team and Director of Corporate Affairs - estimating it would take over 121 hours to vet the records.
This is a large volume of discussion at the highest ranks of the EPA for any issue. When you consider we are a tiny green waste recycling facility, it is extremely concerning.
Imagine if the EPA had instead devoted these resources to busting those currently harming the environment, or at looking at its own culture and compliance with its own policies?
The EPA continues to provide misleading information to media to try and save face, saying our site has not undertaken works required to protect the environment, and suggesting the risks of environmental harm is alarmingly high.
The ‘works’ the EPA are referring to are designed for an operation more than 40 times the size of our standard landscape supplies yard operations - a size lower than EPA would have any oversight of.
The Land and Environment Court hearing confirmed our operations as ‘low risk’ and both the EPA and Court agreed that many of the 104 operating conditions of our licence were excessive and should be reduced.
The conditions the EPA are imposing on us are far greater than NSW’s biggest sites currently operating.
One site has over 1,100 times the volume of materials than us, including high risk waste like human waste. The EPA doesn’t even require that site to test the water that is allowed to flow freely into neighbouring properties, creeks and agricultural sites.
The EPA continues to mislead media, saying our site has ‘elevated ammonia levels up to 10 times downstream.’ They are quoting a test result taken more than 15 years ago from a single point 300m inside our site boundary.
Two independent environmental experts examined 15 years of data and conducted detailed site inspections, and agreed there has been no environmental harm from the reading, confirming that over the past 15 years, the level of ammonia has significantly lowered naturally, and will likely return to a neutral level on its own within 12 months.
The experts noted the ammonia level in question was similar to the levels present in waters from the surrounding natural bushland that travel into the site. Wilderness areas have lots of organic matter breaking down - this level of ammonia would naturally occur in any National Park or bushland around Australia.
The environmental experts also confirmed that our site has NEVER had water leaving the site of environmental concern, noting that the independent water testing results show water quality that passes through the site often improves.
This could have all been avoided.
The EPA had all of this data BEFORE they closed us down, but ignored it. The EPA didn’t commission any expert studies or take any of the usual steps in its standard process to work with us. Instead, they ignored our evidence and pleas to work together, and chose to 'find a way' to close us down. They even threatened criminal charges.
EPA turns blind eye to Pollution nearby
Meanwhile, the EPA has allowed the local Council Waste Management Facility, less than 1km away from our site, to continue to operate, after it allowed high levels of ammonia to escape its site and pollute surrounding bushland. The EPA classified these breaches as the lowest level and priority of environmental impact. No shut down action or penalty has been taken against the council tip in over 3 years. Instead, the EPA publicly supported expansion of composting operations at the tip, despite multiple ongoing breaches and thousands of complaints from the public around offensive odours.
Conflicts of interest.
Coverups.
Double standards.
Wasting public money.
Hurting our community.
The environment and our community deserve better.
HOW YOU CAN HELP - 5 MINS MAKES A DIFFERENCE
- Please sign and share this petition to urge the NSW Ombudsman and Independent Commission Against Corruption to investigate the EPA’s misconduct and unethical targeting our family business and demand the EPA be held accountable.
- Email the NSW Minister for the Environment, Penny Sharpe and demand the EPA stops attacking our business until an investigation is complete.
- Send a letter to the editor
WHAT WE WILL DO
If, by some miracle, the bureaucrats do the right thing, we’ll work at trying to rebuild our business and our lives. This has been devastating to our family, our health and wellbeing – we don’t know if we can ever really recover.
Regardless, we are going to continue to fight to expose the broken system – the corruption and maladministration of the EPA, and the sickening culture that supports and empowers the organisation to turn a blind eye to the real polluters and instead attack the small guys who are just trying to do the right thing.
We owe it to our children and our environment. We won’t stop our fight.
Learn more about our story here:
A Current Affair, July 2023 https://fb.watch/lAFQarPx_h/ (5:40)
15,261
The issue
Listen to our latest story on ABC Newcastle
The NSW EPA is currently investigating misconduct, maladministration and corruption, surrounding its attack on our family green waste recycling business, Oz Mulch, in the Lake Macquarie/Newcastle region of NSW.
The EPA has also referred the matter to the NSW Ombudsman and the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC).
By the time the truth is out, it will be too late. The EPA is trying to revoke our licence altogether.
NSW Greens MP, Sue Higginson, appeared on A Current Affair, in support of our business. Ms Higginson called for an inquiry into the EPA, saying communities all over NSW are losing faith and trust in the EPA at rapid rates, and the evidence suggests there is enormous scope for reform.
Ms Higginson wrote to the EPA CEO on 7 January 2025, to request that no further regulatory action be taken against Oz Mulch until the EPA misconduct investigation is complete, and urging review of our licence conditions to be more appropriate for a small business that recycles backyard green waste. The head of the EPA responded saying they won't stop.
We need your help to demand the EPA cease action against OZ Mulch until an independent investigation into EPA conduct is complete.
Watch our story on A Current Affair, 25 January 2025 here: https://fb.watch/wUfU5r2M81/ (6:18)
Who is Oz Mulch
Oz Mulch is a family-owned green waste recycling business that has served the community of Lake Macquarie and Newcastle for more than 20 years, taking people's green waste, like leaves, branches and backyard greenery, and recycling it into landscape supplies, like mulch and soil.
What did the EPA do?
The NSW EPA constructed red tape to close our family business in May 2023.
We won the Court appeal
After more than a year of fighting, the NSW Land and Environment Court has upheld our appeal.
No environmental harm
Two independent environmental experts agreed there had been no environmental harm on the site or to the surrounding environment. The EPA’s own expert said there are no environmental reasons why the business couldn’t have continued to operate.
The EPA continues to lie
A nameless and faceless EPA spokeswoman lied to you and every person in NSW when she told the media; "EPA testing of the groundwater downstream found ammonia up to 10 times above the guideline values."
The EPA have NEVER tested the groundwater on or around our site. Ammonia levels above the guidelines have never been found downstream of our site. We have never had any water of environmental concern leave our site. When media has asked for evidence to prove this claim, the EPA can't provide it - because it does not exist.
Are you OK with the EPA lying to you? Are you concerned that the EPA has the power to do this and get away with it?
Express your outrage and demand they are held accountable - send a letter to the editor of the Newcastle Herald.
The human impact has been devastating
It has cost us everything we have to fight and get the finding we knew all along. We are fighting for the livelihood of eighteen employees who depend on us and the 15,000 clients, including tradies and local businesses, who rely on our service. Recycling green waste is a valuable part of the circular economy.
Public money wasted
The EPA has spent over 3 years and millions of dollars of public money, taking a prejudiced and heavy-handed approach, that has nothing to do with the environment. Their unprecedented powers, designed to protect the environment, have been misused to intentionally strangle our small family business in administrative red tape and close us down forever.
EPA misleading Council
The EPA has misled council to approve a simple DA modification to clarify our operations will be no bigger than any standard landscapes supplies yard. The EPA's own internal memo to influence Council to "STOP THE CLOCK" seems to be working. The EPA has led Council to evaluate our site as though it will be 20-100 times bigger.
Council has stalled a simple DA modification decision for over 2 years
Currently the Council is stalling its decision, based on the ‘feeling’ of a single person, with no expert credentials, who refuses to listen to hundreds of documents from engineers, environmental experts and 15 years of data, and pleas from members of our community for us to reopen. He is ignoring the evidence and says he ‘feels the site is not suitable’.
The real cost is on the environment
The EPA has been so focused on attacking our business at all costs, that it has turned a blind-eye to real pollution happening around the State.
WHY we’ve been attacked?
It was personal.
The officer that has driven the entire action has a conflict of interest.
The EPA ignored it, allowing us to be targeted, and for incorrect and misleading information to influence the most Senior NSW Government officials including the Minister for the Environment, and close our business.
More than a year of stalling – the EPA has been turning a blind eye saying unethical activity ‘isn’t illegal’
In December 2024, after more than a year of stalling and ignoring evidence of unethical and misleading dealings with Oz Mulch, the EPA finally agreed to investigate the misconduct, but it says it will not stop pushing the unnecessary, unfair and unreasonable regulatory action to put the nail in the coffin of our business.
No ramifications
The EPA agrees that it failed to respond to correspondence and evidence proving our business should not be closed for the 5 months period before the unnecessary closure of Oz Mulch. When asked if there would were ramifications, the EPA simply said ‘sorry’ but ‘it’s not illegal.’
EPA allowed to mark its own homework
In August 2024, the EPA deemed that it wasn’t even worth investigating if the EPA had demonstrated effective use of public resources, if they had made good decisions, and if the outcomes were reasonable in the circumstances.
Delays to “Stop the Clock” on our business
The EPA finally opened an investigation into misconduct, maladministration and corruption when we presented further evidence, obtained through freedom of information, that could not be ignored. This evidence was under the EPA’s noses the entire time – the EPA delayed providing this evidence to us 100 days.
DISGUSTING.
By the time the truth is out, it will be too late. The EPA is trying to revoke our licence altogether at the end of this month.
Please help us to demand the EPA cease action against OZ Mulch until an independent investigation into EPA conduct is complete.
Minister has no power over the EPA – all the EPA cares about is its reputation
The Minister doesn’t have the power to stop the EPA’s attack. The EPA can still do the right thing – Have the matter independently investigated – and pause further decision and attack on Oz Mulch until a full investigation is complete.
The EPA is more concerned with preserving its reputation than doing the right thing.
Evidence gained through Freedom of Information proves that the EPA was only worried about the risk to its own reputation when it closed us down, after ignoring all of our evidence disproving their claims, and our pleas to work together to find solutions.
The EPA is now trying to stop us from seeing over 500 emails between its own executive team and Director of Corporate Affairs - estimating it would take over 121 hours to vet the records.
This is a large volume of discussion at the highest ranks of the EPA for any issue. When you consider we are a tiny green waste recycling facility, it is extremely concerning.
Imagine if the EPA had instead devoted these resources to busting those currently harming the environment, or at looking at its own culture and compliance with its own policies?
The EPA continues to provide misleading information to media to try and save face, saying our site has not undertaken works required to protect the environment, and suggesting the risks of environmental harm is alarmingly high.
The ‘works’ the EPA are referring to are designed for an operation more than 40 times the size of our standard landscape supplies yard operations - a size lower than EPA would have any oversight of.
The Land and Environment Court hearing confirmed our operations as ‘low risk’ and both the EPA and Court agreed that many of the 104 operating conditions of our licence were excessive and should be reduced.
The conditions the EPA are imposing on us are far greater than NSW’s biggest sites currently operating.
One site has over 1,100 times the volume of materials than us, including high risk waste like human waste. The EPA doesn’t even require that site to test the water that is allowed to flow freely into neighbouring properties, creeks and agricultural sites.
The EPA continues to mislead media, saying our site has ‘elevated ammonia levels up to 10 times downstream.’ They are quoting a test result taken more than 15 years ago from a single point 300m inside our site boundary.
Two independent environmental experts examined 15 years of data and conducted detailed site inspections, and agreed there has been no environmental harm from the reading, confirming that over the past 15 years, the level of ammonia has significantly lowered naturally, and will likely return to a neutral level on its own within 12 months.
The experts noted the ammonia level in question was similar to the levels present in waters from the surrounding natural bushland that travel into the site. Wilderness areas have lots of organic matter breaking down - this level of ammonia would naturally occur in any National Park or bushland around Australia.
The environmental experts also confirmed that our site has NEVER had water leaving the site of environmental concern, noting that the independent water testing results show water quality that passes through the site often improves.
This could have all been avoided.
The EPA had all of this data BEFORE they closed us down, but ignored it. The EPA didn’t commission any expert studies or take any of the usual steps in its standard process to work with us. Instead, they ignored our evidence and pleas to work together, and chose to 'find a way' to close us down. They even threatened criminal charges.
EPA turns blind eye to Pollution nearby
Meanwhile, the EPA has allowed the local Council Waste Management Facility, less than 1km away from our site, to continue to operate, after it allowed high levels of ammonia to escape its site and pollute surrounding bushland. The EPA classified these breaches as the lowest level and priority of environmental impact. No shut down action or penalty has been taken against the council tip in over 3 years. Instead, the EPA publicly supported expansion of composting operations at the tip, despite multiple ongoing breaches and thousands of complaints from the public around offensive odours.
Conflicts of interest.
Coverups.
Double standards.
Wasting public money.
Hurting our community.
The environment and our community deserve better.
HOW YOU CAN HELP - 5 MINS MAKES A DIFFERENCE
- Please sign and share this petition to urge the NSW Ombudsman and Independent Commission Against Corruption to investigate the EPA’s misconduct and unethical targeting our family business and demand the EPA be held accountable.
- Email the NSW Minister for the Environment, Penny Sharpe and demand the EPA stops attacking our business until an investigation is complete.
- Send a letter to the editor
WHAT WE WILL DO
If, by some miracle, the bureaucrats do the right thing, we’ll work at trying to rebuild our business and our lives. This has been devastating to our family, our health and wellbeing – we don’t know if we can ever really recover.
Regardless, we are going to continue to fight to expose the broken system – the corruption and maladministration of the EPA, and the sickening culture that supports and empowers the organisation to turn a blind eye to the real polluters and instead attack the small guys who are just trying to do the right thing.
We owe it to our children and our environment. We won’t stop our fight.
Learn more about our story here:
A Current Affair, July 2023 https://fb.watch/lAFQarPx_h/ (5:40)
15,261
The Decision Makers
Petition created on 25 June 2023