West Gate Tunnel project faces blowout after CFMEU contaminated soil dispute
The militant CFMEU has demanded work stop at the crisis-plagued West Gate Tunnel project over contaminated soil.
Victoria
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The crisis-plagued West Gate Tunnel project faces further delays amid a fresh dispute over contaminated soil.
Police were called to the tunnel worksite on Friday after militant union the CFMEU demanded that work stop at the $10.6bn project’s soil storage site.
WorkSafe was also called to investigate complaints about how the soil – which could be contaminated with toxic chemicals such as PFAS – has been handled.
The industrial flare-up occurred just weeks after the project’s first tunnel-boring machine cranked up, after more than two years of legal brawling over cost blowouts.
Those delays have pushed the tunnel opening date back from 2022 to 2025 and caused $3.9bn in budget overruns.
Part of the settlement that allowed works to finally get going was a deal to dispose of the soil at a specially-built tip in Sunbury.
To get the material to Sunbury, tunnel spoil is loaded on to a 15km covered conveyor system and transported to a shed in Yarraville, where it is then stored before being loaded on to trucks.
Project sources said repeated clashes between project builders John Holland/CPB and the CFMEU at the shed has led to capacity constraints, and caused chaos on the site.
WorkSafe confirmed on Friday that it was “making inquiries” into issues raised by the union.
A police spokeswoman said officers were called to the Yarraville worksite about 1pm on Friday, but there were “no arrests or complaints made”.
“Police remained on site while WorkSafe attended,” she said.
Last month a dispute over shifting concrete structures led to overnight works next to the West Gate Freeway being halted, spilling into the morning peak when motorists were stalled for hours.
The union said its actions were due to safety concerns.
A West Gate Tunnel project spokeswoman said on Friday that 300m of the first tunnel had been dug.
“We work closely with all our industrial partners on the project and we encourage all parties to continue to work productively to deliver this vital piece of infrastructure,” she said.
There will be 1.5 million cubic metres of rock and soil removed as part of the massive operation, and the tunnelling is expected to take 18 months.
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