New details on Maddingley Brown Coal’s plan to take West Gate Tunnel soil
Thousands of irate residents and a tractor convoy have rallied against the plan to dump the West Gate Tunnel’s contaminated soil in Melbourne’s western suburbs, saying the move would affect the entire country.
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More than 2000 furious residents last night blockaded Werribee streets over the plan to dump the West Gate Tunnel’s contaminated soil in Melbourne’s western suburbs.
A tractor convoy joined the protesters on Watton St in a show of solidarity, with farmers also facing the prospect of having their produce contaminated with industrial chemical PFAS.
Event organiser Lisa Markovic told the Herald Sun she was thrilled with the community response.
“The feedback from the community has been amazing and everyone is feeling empowered, so it was great,” she said.
“People had an opportunity to express their feelings about the potential plans, so it was an important thing for the community to do.”
Residents from surrounding suburbs attended the event, and Ms Markovic said it helped inform them on the stark reality they faced should plans go ahead.
“You feel like you’re a bit of a whipping boy in this situation, because it’s such a safe seat things are just taken for granted,” she said.
Ms Markovic said people were “incredibly worried” about the potential health implications the dumping of soil from the West Gate Tunnel project in their community presented.
“People are definitely concerned about their health and their families’ health,” she said.
“They’re also concerned about the environment and the natural environment, with so many nice areas around that should actually be precious to the state.
“On top of that, should there be an impact on the river it will impact farmers’ livelihoods through the quality of their produce, which will affect the whole country because they export lettuce, broccoli and cauliflower.”
As well as the strong crowd in person, several thousand more watched the event on a live stream.
Ms Markovic said people couldn’t believe the plan to use Wyndham Vale as a temporary site, labelling it the “most ridiculous thing”.
“They are saying it might only be there a few days, so why can’t it go straight to a purpose built facility and eliminate the double handling,” she said.
“We’re not saying to dump it in someone else’s backyard, but we feel the site they have earmarked isn’t at all appropriate.
“There must be alternatives that won’t impact people’s health or water systems as much.
“We hope the government and Transurban is listening and they do the right thing and put an end to it.”
Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien said the people of the western suburbs would be the residents living with the consequences of the state government’s “incompetent”decisions.
“This Labor Government is just not being straight with the people of the western suburbs,” he said.
“This is a government that went into the West Gate Tunnel deal without doing their homework.
“They didn’t think about where this toxic soil is going to be dumped.
“They didn’t think about the community or think about motorists that are going to be paying massively higher tolls.”
LANDFILL PLAN FLAGGED FOR TOXIC TUNNEL SOIL
It comes after the revelation that trucks carrying toxic soil would drive into a landfill site northwest of Melbourne every six minutes if it is chosen to store the spoil from the West Gate Tunnel project.
Maddingley Brown Coal in Bacchus Marsh looms as the frontrunner to take the dirt — which is contaminated with industrial chemical PFAS — when digging begins on the problem-plagued project.
But Moorabool Shire Council is demanding more information about the proposal that would see GPS-monitored trucks entering Maddingley around the clock for up to two years.
“Council remains largely in the dark about the potential risks for the community, as well as the actual impacts to our roads, our environment and our reputation as a major food provider for Melbourne,” mayor David Edwards said.
Toll road giant Transurban, which is leading the $6.7 billion project, has provided new details about the plan and reassured residents the soil would not “present a risk to human health or the environment”.
Transurban and its construction partners have told the council that Maddingley is already licenced to accept the soil, which is expected to have “low levels of PFAS”.
Tunnelling was supposed to start in July but has been delayed by the PFAS problems, with a competitive process now underway to choose a site for the spoil.
If Maddingley is chosen, an amendment to the council’s planning scheme would be required, and Transurban is promising to engage with locals “to ensure we hear their concerns”.
It said there would be “minimal amenity impacts” from taking the soil to Maddingley, with “no dust or odour, and minimal noise”.
Five-metre earth walls and dust suppression methods would be installed, specialist drainage pipes set up to protect the groundwater system, and trucks would avoid homes at night.
A complaints hotline would be set up for those concerned about the process.
Maddingley has told residents the soil would be transported in sealed trucks and tested daily.
It said “in the unlikely event” the soil could not be disposed at Maddingley — because it had higher levels of PFAS — it would be taken to a separate facility.
The government has been considering land in Wyndham as a back-up site, angering some residents who were set to rally on Tuesday night.
Local Labor MPs Steve McGhie and Michaela Settle told residents last month they would “continue to take forward all the concerns of our community”, as they assured them all options were based on “best practice environmental management and advice”.
A government spokeswoman said last night: “Transurban and its builder are working with project parties to find a long-term solution to manage the rock and soil from tunnelling — no decision has been made.”
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