Benjamin Millar
Western suburb councils have slammed the state environmental watchdog’s decision to give the green light for toxic West Gate Tunnel soil to be treated in Ravenhall.
Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) announced on Friday it had approved an Environment Management Plan (EMP) for Cleanaway’s Spoil Management and Reuse Facility to accept and process the contaminated soil.
The proposed location of the facility is adjacent to Melbourne Regional Landfill in Ravenhall and is part of Cleanaway’s application to receive tunnel boring machine spoil from the West Gate Tunnel Project.
It follows recent approvals for dumping at Maddingley Brown Coal in in Bacchus Marsh and the Hi Quality site in Bulla.
By Oliver Lees
Increased congestion along the Bulla Bridge poses a “potential hazard for the whole community”, according to qualified civil engineer Steve Bock.
Mr Bock inspected the heritage-listed bridge following the approval of Hi-Quality’s planning scheme amendment, which paves the way for it to accept spoil from the West Gate Tunnel project.
According to a report presented to a Hume council meeting on September 7, 2020, trucks would transport soil to Hi-Quality’s site 24-hours a day, seven days a week for 18 to 24 months.
The report stated that a traffic assessment had estimated there would be 36 truck movements (18 entering and 18 exiting the site) per hour associated with the proposed activity
But a massive amount of work is needed to prepare the landfill sites to receive the project’s soil. Construction alone would take six months and cost $100-$150 million at each site.
A separate source who is close to the project said no contract would be signed until a deal was reached on who would foot this bill.
Sunbury residents protest against plans to send contaminated soil to the Hi-Quality landfill in Bulla.
Credit:No Toxic Soil in Sunbury Facebook page
Chris O’Neill, a spokesman for community group Sunbury Against Toxic Soil, which opposes plans to send contaminated soil to Hi-Quality, called on the government to ensure no contracts were signed with landfill operators until after the legal cases were complete.
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The Andrews government will keep secret a deal it signed with Beijing aimed at fostering Chinaâs government involvement in Victorian infrastructure projects.
The 2017 agreement was signed separately to the recently cancelled Belt and Road framework and is being looked at by the Commonwealth to determine whether it contradicts Australiaâs foreign policy interests. The agreementâs aim is to facilitate public-private partnerships between the Victorian government and Chinese firms, which tend to be state-owned.
Premier Daniel Andrews (second from left) at Beijingâs Temple of Heaven on his first official visit to China in 2015. Also there: (from left) Qenos chief executive Jonathan Clancy; former Labor MP Marsha Thomson; Melbourne University vice-chancellor Glyn Davis; entrepreneur Harold Mitchell; and Greater China commissioner Tim Dillon.