West Gate Tunnel’s toxic soil removal to cost Victorian taxpayers up to $750m

Victorian taxpayers are set to foot a bill totalling hundreds of millions of dollars to remove the West Gate Tunnel’s troubled toxic soil that has stalled the $6.7 billion project for almost a year.

Taxpayers are set to fork out hundreds of millions of dollars to help get rid of West Gate Tunnel’s toxic soil.
The state government will stump up the extra cash to move and store contaminated soil that has stalled the $6.7 billion project for almost a year.

Talks are well advanced for the Andrews Government to foot the bill for disposing of soil contaminated with industrial chemical PFAS and asbestos that has been sitting beside the West Gate Freeway and other sections of the project since being unearthed during early works.

Even with the public cash injection, which could be as high as $750 million, the project still has another hurdle to clear before reigniting, due to a dispute between Transurban and builders CPB Contractors and John Holland.

But parties to the project are confident major works can restart by January, with talks over wider cost blowouts that won’t be covered by the state progressing.

The government maintains that Transurban will have to pay for those overruns, with the new soil solution money not considered part of wider blowouts.

The project, which will link the West Gate Freeway to CityLink, was due to be finished in 2022 but Transurban has already told shareholders it will be a year late.

The extra cost to taxpayers, once a deal is finalised, is expected to be in the hundreds of millions — on top of the initial $6.7 project billion budget.

Soil underneath plastic at West Gate Tunnel Project. Picture: Ian Currie

Sources suggest the total figure for this could be as high as $750 million but the government rejects those claims.

A state government spokeswoman said discussions were continuing over a solution that will allow soil to be dug up by boring machines.

“The Government has a fixed price contract with Transurban to deliver the West Gate Tunnel and we will be holding them to that contract,” she said.

“The best thing that CPB, John Holland and Transurban can do to avoid losing money on this job is to resolve their disputes and start tunnelling as soon as possible.”

Opposition transport spokesman David Davis said the government had rolled over by agreeing to pay waste disposal costs.

“This is a windfall for Labor’s mates at Transurban that will be paid for by taxpayers,” he said

“It will also be paid for by local communities who are forced to accept Labor’s dumped toxic soil.”

West Gate Tunnel Project looking west down Footscray Road. Picture: Ian Currie

Costs that could be covered by the government include the contracted price of using landfill sites at Bulla and Bacchus Marsh, expected to be at least $350 million, along with additional expenses associated with moving the soil.

Transurban is understood to have spent a significant amount of money to solve the toxic soil fiasco when it was first discovered, and wants to recoup a share of these costs.

Soil removal is costly for tunnel projects, with haulage rates up to about $20 a tonne for non-contaminated material. 

However, that cost can soar to about 10 times the standard rate for toxic spoil. 

There will be about 3 million tonnes of spoil generated through the WGT, with even more expected to be unearthed during the planned $16 billion North East Link.

Contamination has already been flagged on that site, particularly around the Bulleen industrial area.

One source involved in the WGT project said the contract was a “dud” and was now causing problems across the site. 

“It wasn’t scoped properly and now there’s a price to be paid.” 

There are also concerns the deal could set a precedent for future projects where private partners have agreed to take on risk.

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