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For F*#k’s Sake! Do the right thing and filter the tunnel stacks now! 

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“People with asthma are the metaphorical canaries in the coal mine when it comes to air pollution: they are among the first people to be affected.”

By Martin Wurt President of MTAG

Recently I was looking through submissions to the 2021 Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into the health impacts of air pollution. The quote above by the Australian Asthma Foundation is a timely, sobering reminder of why the Maribyrnong Truck Action Group (MTAG) is campaigning to have the West Gate Tunnel ventilation stacks filtered.

In 2009, Maribyrnong had the highest proportion of adolescents with asthma in Victoria—16.8% compared to the state average of 11.6%. In 2014, Environmental Justice Australia, in their Clearing The Air report listed Yarraville and Braybrook as the 7th and 8th most polluted places in the country.

Despite this, the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) claims filtration is not needed yet. They say they will monitor air quality and act if it worsens. In other words—if our already bad air gets worse, they might act.

But don’t hold your breath (no pun intended). In 2002, EPA monitoring found pollution levels on Francis Street regularly breaching their own intervention thresholds. What did they do? Nothing, because they said there weren’t any measures they could take to reduce mobile pollution sources.

MTAG recently attended an EPA ‘community consultation’ about the stacks. Putting aside what an atrocious example of community consultation it was, MTAG asked what triggers would result in filtration. We were told they would need 12 months of data showing poor air quality, followed by analysis, source identification, a health risk assessment, and then determination of the best mitigation measure. Only then might filtration be recommended.

This is the reality we now face without filtration. If our air quality gets even worse, action could still be years away—and this would be just to make a decision. Then comes budgeting, purchasing, shipping, and stack reconstruction. We know from Freedom of Information documents that the stacks will need major engineering changes to fit filters.

And here’s the kicker: there is no EPA monitoring station near the southern stack being constructed right beside the Bradmill housing development and across the freeway from another big development on Blackshaws Road. Both housing developments sit in the shadow of the unfiltered stack. The EPA will not know how these residents are affected, despite claiming monitors have been in place since construction began.

Worse still, the southern stack will emit even more pollution than the northern stack in Yarraville as it vents the longer tunnel, meaning more vehicles and more emissions. These tunnels will carry over 16,000 trucks per day. Diesel exhaust was declared a known carcinogen in 2012 and the World Health Organisation says, ‘There is no safe level of exposure to diesel exhaust.’

Making the vent stack emissions worse is that Australia has the second oldest truck fleet out of the OECD countries, second only to Mexico. These old trucks emit up to 90% more pollution than a new truck does with the latest emissions controls.

Both tunnel stacks are located next to major sports precincts used by thousands of children each year. At McIvor Reserve: Footscray Hockey Club, Yarraville Glory Football Club, Yarraville Baseball Club, and AusKick. At the northern stack: Yarraville Tennis Club, Seddon Cricket Club, AusKick, and Aussie rules.

Just imagine for a moment…that we had an EPA that actually protected the environment and did more than just licence pollution, and that our Health Department actually advocated for our health and demanded filtration to safeguard public health.

Unfortunately, our reality is that our children will continue to be the canaries in the coalmine despite this rare opportunity to filter mobile sources of air pollution.

Right now, MTAG desperately needs financial support to continue with our campaign. 

Please donate to keep us advocating for cleaner air. We would also love local business to get on board with financial support. Email us at info@mtag.org.au 

Please show your support,
donate and sign our petition –
filterthestacks.com.au

We need filtration on the West Gate Tunnel ventilation stacks now!

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1 COMMENT

  1. Congratulations on a brillant and timely article. Yet again this graphically demonstrates the utter incompetence of the EPA, and the sheer arrogance of the Labor Government of this State. People’s lives for generations to come will be severly impacted by this lack of action. It’s outrageous and contemptible behaviour from any Government.

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