{"id":805567,"date":"2026-07-17T06:43:25","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T06:43:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/805567\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T06:43:25","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T06:43:25","slug":"sydney-illegal-dumping-ex-bikie-associate-faces-court-over-contaminated-waste-found-in-rossmore-and-thirlmere","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/805567\/","title":{"rendered":"Sydney illegal dumping: Ex-bikie associate faces court over contaminated waste found in Rossmore and Thirlmere"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BenSave<\/p>\n

You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n

Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n

AAA<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"AndrewAndrew Hughes pleaded guilty to dumping contaminated waste.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese were deliberate and egregious crimes, with text messages revealing Mr Hughes directed contractors to \u2018tip\u2019 directly into the dam at one of his client\u2019s properties,\u201d said a NSW Environment Protection Authority spokesperson.<\/p>\n

Landowners at the semi-rural properties in Rossmore and Thirlmere had responded to advertisements in 2020 offering \u201cfree fill\u201d to level sections of their land.<\/p>\n

But when trucks arrived, the loads were packed with contaminants including broken bricks, shredded plastic, concrete and tiles.<\/p>\n

Photos show weathered fragments of bonded asbestos sheets mingled with the dumped waste on the properties.<\/p>\n

\"SomeSome of the contaminated fill dumped by Ant Civil Pty Ltd.NSW Environment Protection Authority<\/p>\n

\u201cMr 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,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hughes pleaded guilty via video link.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s north-west.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"An<\/a><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Evidence was gathered via secret cameras, drones and covert surveillance by EPA officers.<\/p>\n

When the site was investigated, an excavator dug to a depth of seven metres and was still digging through contaminated waste.<\/p>\n

Toxic sludge was found to be leaching from the site when the Herald visited in 2024.<\/p>\n

\"DrDr Ian Wright, a professor of environmental science at University of Western Sydney, tests for pollution at Wheeny Creek.Wolter Peeters<\/p>\n

Water tests showed<\/a> that a protected wetland next to the dump site was \u201chighly contaminated by a cocktail of metals at concentrations known to be hazardous to aquatic life\u201d, according to Western Sydney University Professor Ian Wright.<\/p>\n

The Wheeny Creek site was sold<\/a> in 2024 for just $50,000, less than a tenth of the $510,000 it was bought for in 2020, property records indicate.<\/p>\n

Hughes is also facing illegal dumping charges related to a property in Windsor Downs, in Sydney\u2019s north-west, and Bilpin in the Blue Mountains.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Hughes and his family left Australia in 2023, claiming they feared for their lives.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The family\u2019s location was not disclosed to the court \u201cother than being somewhere in South-East Asia\u201d.<\/p>\n

Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Save<\/p>\n

You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n

Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n

\"BenBen Cubby<\/a> is an investigative reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":805568,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[64,63,75,128],"class_list":["post-805567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=805567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805567\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/805568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=805567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=805567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=805567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}