An independent investigation to determine exactly what hundreds of tonnes of toxic rubble dumped at Minmarama Park is made up of – and how it will be moved – should have been completed by now, a government document states, but the Minister has not revealed how much it will cost to move or whether taxpayers will be paying for it.

The summary of a report on the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics’ website said the next part of the project to remove the mounds on Dick Ward Drive in Ludmilla would be to discuss “the nature of future remediation options and land uses” with “government agencies and stakeholders in due course”, and said that the department brought in an independent auditor to undertake a detailed site investigation which was expected to be finished by mid this year.

“Before the detailed site investigation, a preliminary site investigation conducted in mid-2018 found evidence of asbestos-containing material in some of the stockpiles, ” it said.

Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics Minister Eva Lawler did not respond to questions about where the project is currently at, who would be paying for removal of the material, and exactly what the material was.

In correspondence with a concerned resident last year, Ms Lawler said the “government stands with the Darwin community in wanting to ensure the matter is appropriately addressed”.

But because the mountains of rubble are on Indigenous-owned land, and because the Gwalwa Daraniki Association in charge of the land had entered into private deals dating back to before 2007, the NT Government “can only facilitate a way forward”, the letter stated.

The Gwalwa Daraniki Association did not respond to a request for comment about who authorised the dumping on the land and if they had been asked to pay for its removal.

In 2015, former minister for Lands and Planning and former CLP deputy chief minister, Dave Tollner, confirmed the stockpile was unlawful.

Dr Bill Day a stalwart Darwin anthropologist, previously told the NT Independent Mr Tollner told him in correspondence that his department was “monitoring the situation” and highlighted a “fill removal and re-vegetation management plan” was required.

Since 1972, Dr Day, has been scrutinising the area as dump trucks upended loads of debris to two neighboring sites.

One site he says dates back to just after cyclone Tracy that devastated the city of Darwin in December 1974. It has since been covered with soil. Built on top is the Indigenous community of Minmarama.

The other began to amass in 2006. On the high wire fence surrounding it, Dr Day said there was a sign warning people to keep out or otherwise contact Darwin construction giant Halikos Group.

The land has never been rezoned and is of high conservation value, Dr Day says, adding the pile of toxic waste “stinks of corruption”.