A daycare centre and dozens of households have potentially been exposed to an alleged illegal dump of asbestos in Sydney's west.
Residents were unaware of the hazard until alerts were sent out on Friday via a letterbox drop to homes at Jordan Springs, near Penrith.
The letter from Lendlease, and obtained by 9NEWS, stated contractors had identified small amounts of bonded Asbestos Containing Material within the dumped soils.
"The affected area is fenced off. The soils will be removed in accordance with strict statutory and regulatory requirements,” the letter reads.
Lendlease – Australia's largest building, design and construction company – owns the fenced-off vacant land where the soil was allegedly dumped.
Access is via a locked gate.
The multi-billion dollar company also completed the construction of the neighbouring Jordan Springs Community Hub towards the end of 2017.
The new centre, which was a joint initiative between Penrith City Council and Lendlease, is yet to open its doors.
Local residents have told 9NEWS large piles of soil were left on the site as a result of the construction.
Lendlease confirmed this to 9NEWS, but said that the leftover soil was not contaminated, rather "some illegal dumping of soils" was added to the pile at a later date.
Resident Blake Hook said he was “pretty surprised” to find that the soil contained asbestos because “the pile has been there for so long”.
Wendy James never received the notice in her letterbox, telling 9NEWS it was, "very concerning – really concerning”.
When asked what he thought of the alert in the mail, Dane Wellard said, "I thought this is just a cover up. This is just a stitch-up saying it’s someone else’s fault."
Penrith Council declined to comment on the matter, failing to confirm when they were informed of the contamination and also not responding to a list of questions asked by 9NEWS.
Lendlease also failed to divulge when contractors discovered the alleged illegal dump and when the soil was tested for asbestos, instead supplying 9NEWS with a statement.
"The asbestos was identified as bonded, not airborne, and this type of asbestos poses a lesser risk to the community,” the statement read.
This conflicted with the letter to locals, where they claimed it “does not represent a risk to the public”.
Full Statement from Lendlease:
Lendlease discovered illegally dumped material at a vacant site at its Jordan Springs community development.
Small amounts of asbestos-contaminated material were identified in the dumped soils. The asbestos was identified as bonded, not airborne, and this type of asbestos poses a lesser risk to the community.
Regardless of the type, asbestos contamination is a very serious matter, and we took immediate protective and remediation actions with the wellbeing of our residents and employees in mind.
The material is being removed in accordance with strict statutory and regulatory requirements by a contractor engaged by Lendlease.
In our business, the wellbeing of our employees, our customers and our contractors is always at the forefront of our decision-making.