Clean our Air - Filter the Stacks!
The West Gate Tunnel’s two unfiltered ventilation stacks will pump out harmful pollution from 16,000 trucks each day over inner west communities.
Melbourne’s inner west has some of the highest rates of asthma, lung cancer, stroke and heart disease in Australia - diseases which all have a strong correlation to air pollution. Children in the City of Maribyrnong already have hospital admission rates for respiratory illness 70% above the Victorian average! Promised truck bans may get trucks off our streets – but without filtration we’ll be breathing toxic fumes for decades.
EPA issues an operating licence for unfiltered stacks!
MTAG was shocked by the November 10th announcement from the EPA that they have issued Transurban an operating licence for the West Gate Tunnel vent stacks, without any need for filtration. The government’s own advice from the committee assessing the stacks in 2017 recommended filtration from day one. Now a recent report, commissioned by MTAG, written by expert engineers recommended filtration due to serious design flaws. The EPA are clearly determined to ignore expert advice.
Melbourne’s west has been the dumping ground for this city’s most toxic industries for decades. This licence application was a chance for the EPA to do the right thing for communities already impacted by air pollution by putting a condition in the licence that filtration must be fitted.
The west always feels like second class citizens when it comes to clean air. If the Government and EPA are not putting our health first, then who is? We imagine that there will be some very happy faces around the Transurban board table tonight, and perhaps in government too, as they get to save a few million dollars by not filtering the stacks.
The amended Victorian Environment Act is designed to move Victoria to a precautionary model, one where pollution is stopped before it becomes a problem. The essence of that Act has been ignored, but is that really surprising when you live in the west?
Following the announcement MTAG was interviewed by ABC, Channel Nine and Channel 7 TV news.
Young players at the Footscray Hockey Club practice in the shadow of the Southern stack.
Alarming report finds stack design flaws
MTAG has commissioned a report to investigate if the vent stacks will perform as the government has told us. The report by Synergetics Consulting Engineers has found that serious design flaws in the as-built stacks will result in a high level of ground contamination that will impact thousands of residents close to the stacks.
The report found that the stack’s architectural cosmetic design flourishes will work to create a downwash effect, pushing pollution towards nearby homes instead of dispersing it high into the atmosphere. The report found that the stack design does not align with good engineering practice for exhaust design, and identifies problems with the architectural façade, the elongated shape and the low discharge velocity.
The report also notes that while it is too late for a complete redesign, there are engineering controls that could be retrofitted to the stacks to substantially improve outcomes for the surrounding community. Filtration is the most effective solution.
The report has received major media coverage: The issue has received a lot of media this week, including The Age, ABC Radio, Star Weekly and Channel 9.
Sign our petition
Please sign our petition, your signature will make our voice louder. This petition calls on the Minister for Environment, Mr Steve Dimopoulos, to allow residents and air pollution/health experts to present new evidence on why the tunnel’s vent stacks should be filtered. This must happen before the EPA issues an operating licence to tunnel operator Transurban. Every health and air quality expert who presented to the original West Gate Tunnel inquiry said that filtration was necessary to improve air pollution and protect health.
Yarraville’s Sun Theatre has produced a newsreel on our campaign. This amazing show of support from owner Michael Smith has allowed us to reach a huge audience. The newsreel plays before each feature film and up to 50 times per day.
Thanks Sun Theatre!
Watch the Sun Theatre Newsreel
Our protest rally was a huge success!
Our recent protest rally at the Yarraville Gardens was a huge success. We had a crowd of around 150 people and the rally was covered by every free-to-air TV news service! With big thanks to our speakers: Mayor Daria Kellander of Hobson’s Bay City Council, Mayor Pradeep Tiwari of Maribyrnong City Council, Dr Vicki Kotsirilos from Doctors for the Environment and Victorian Upper House MP David Ettershank and a big shout out to the Snuff Puppets for their support.
Our Campaign in the Media
Our campaign is getting noticed. We’ve had some great coverage:
ABC Radio Melbourne with Raf Epstein
Watch our Campaign video
Watch and share our campaign video, learn about the 15 countries that do filter their stacks, where our stacks are located and what suburbs will potentially be impacted by the unfiltered air pollution.
Make a Campaign Donation
A donation will help cover our campaign costs - we have launched this dedicated web site on filtration, had placards and posters printed and purchased material and paint for a rally banner. Also coming soon are postcards for local shops and cafes to help raise the campaign profile.
We would appreciate any amount you can afford to donate.
Your support keeps us going, thank you!
A huge thank you our key donors
Bruce and Anne McGregor
Issacson Davis Foundation
Many thanks to our local business supporters
Alfa Bakehouse, Jas Stephens Real Estate, The Yarraville Club, Slow food Melbourne, Cheaper Buy Miles, Village Real Estate, Bendigo Bank Seddon
And our sincere gratitude to all of our individual community donors
Village Real Estate