A central coast farmer who was the innocent victim of an illegal dumping operation in which thousand of tonnes of asbestos-contaminated soil was tipped on his property is now embroiled in a fight with the environmental watchdog over who should pay for the clean-up.

Anthony Zizza was issued with a clean-up notice after the dumping was discovered in 2011. But despite the real culprit being caught, pleading guilty and being fined $36,000, the Environment Protection Authority is still insisting that Mr Zizza is responsible for the mess.

"I have been crucified by the EPA," Mr Zizza said.

"I am the victim here. This has been on my property for three years and yet they have refused to help me. I am worried about the families with children that live around here," he said.

The EPA issued the clean-up notice when it didn't know who the polluter was. Now the EPA has said it has "no legal solution" to the problem of who should pay for the clean-up even though they have prosecuted the polluter. So they are holding Mr Zizza responsible as the property owner.

The trouble began in 2011 when contaminated waste and asbestos from the Shell Clyde refinery site in Rosehill was supposed to be taken to an approved waste disposal tip. The company responsible for the clean-up – CLM Infrastructure – arranged for its proper disposal and had set aside more than $400,000 for the operation.

But Julian Ashmore, the owner of the company contracted to remove the waste, instead dumped it at the property of Mr Zizza with whom there was a separate arrangement to deliver clean sand fill to restore a dam wall on his property.

Ashmore and another man allegedly involved could have pocketed almost $300,000 in tipping fees, but things went awry when CLM Infrastructure realised the receipts for the approved disposal facility were fake. They withheld the money and alerted authorities.

Ashmore was sentenced in the Land and Environment Court last month. He said he only took part in the clandestine operation because he had been threatened and feared for his life. He has said that Mr Zizza was totally unaware of what was going on.

But three years after the dumping, the clean-up notice remains in the name of Mr Zizza, the asbestos is still on Mr Zizza's property and parts have potentially been swept into a national park via a stream that runs through the property.

The EPA has said "it is physically impossible to separate out the waste that arrived from the Shell Clyde Refinery because that material, approximately 3000 to 4000 tonnes" is mixed with other material.  "This means it is not legally possible to direct Mr Ashmore or anyone else to remove that material."

Lawyer Dion Manca from LAS lawyers has written to the EPA saying the treatment of Mr Zizza is "grossly unfair" and said the EPA should arrange the clean-up and use the money from CLM to pay for it.

A spokeswoman for CLM said they had never been asked by the EPA to contribute the money they withheld for the clean-up.

The EPA said Mr Zizza can ask CLM, but they have no legal right to do so.