CFMEU launches public campaign about contaminated soil risk on West Gate Tunnel worksites

A public campaign warning workers and residents of toxic soil on West Gate Tunnel work sites has been launched, in a move by the militant CFMEU that is set to heighten tensions with the project’s builders.

The militant CFMEU has launched a public campaign to warn that toxic waste on West Gate Tunnel construction sites may be threatening workers and residents.

The Herald Sun revealed last month that soil on a worksite for the $6.7 billion project was found to be contaminated with PFAS, an industrial chemical which shut down the Fiskville CFA training college.

In a move that will heighten tensions with the John Holland-CPB consortium building the project, the construction union has this week rolled out mobile billboards about the issue in the western suburbs.

The CFMEU is warning workers and residents of toxic waste on West Gate Tunnel construction sites.

A flyer from the CFMEU about toxic waste on the West Gate Tunnel project. Picture: Supplied

Workers in safety gear will also hand out flyers at railways stations which say: “How toxic is the West Gate Tunnel? If you’re reading this, you may be at risk.”

A campaign website, authorised by rogue CFMEU leader John Setka, calls on the consortium to “come clean and tell us just how dangerous these toxic soils are” and accuses their representatives of missing a meeting with WorkSafe about the issue.

“To us, that says they either don’t care, or they have something to hide,” the CFMEU’s head of health and safety Dr Gerry Ayers said. “And we would like to know what that is.”

The CFMEU has also documents from a briefing on the issue in April, including a map of several locations where the chemical has been identified on worksites.

It is understood soil testing is continuing on worksites — which are located in a former industrial area — and that when contaminated soil is identified, it is covered or kept wet to stop dust spreading before it is moved to a licensed landfill site.

A West Gate Tunnel Project spokeswoman said there were “strict safety measures in place to protect the workers and the community when contaminated soil is found”.

A West Gate Tunnel worksite. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

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“The construction contractor CPB John Holland Joint Venture has been in ongoing contact with the EPA and WorkSafe to ensure the contaminated soil is being managed appropriately,” she said.

A WorkSafe spokeswoman said its staff were continuing to visit the project’s sites “to ensure health and safety requirements are being met”.

The CFMEU website also details claims of other incidents on the project, including a worker losing a finger while working in the dark, outdated first aid supplies, physical bullying and sexual harassment.

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