03May 2001 - Media Release

Evidence presented to the Upper House Parliamentary Inquiry into the M5 East ventilation stack during today’s hearing revealed that the majority of cancer-causing particles could be effectively removed at a cost of $13 million.

Evidence given by two different international companies indicated that filtration equipment could be installed for little more than the cost of the recent Property Value Guarantee offered to residents within 400 metres of the stack. Furthermore, the use of such filtration would significantly reduce energy costs and greenhouse gases.

This evidence is in stark contrast to the $37-70 million estimate constantly relied upon by the RTA.

It was also established that the reports the RTA are relying on are seriously flawed and inadequate in that they used inappropriate costings, did not look at other tunnels of similar size and load and had not properly investigated international developments and the treatment options available.

Health experts testified that without such filtration, residents within the Turrella, Bardwell Park, Earlwood and surrounding areas would experience increased incidence of inflammation, bronchitis, asthma, clotting and cancer. The experts also testified that these health risks to local residents have not been adequately assessed or acted upon.

The adequacy of the modelling relied upon by the RTA was also called into question when experts revealed that the ISC model did not take into account local conditions such as the effect of terrain, ozone and convection currents in the area.

The proposed air quality monitoring was also revealed to be inadequate as it will only record a small fraction of the inevitable exceedences from the stack.

Residents are now confident that the Committee will bring down a strong report, based on the evidence received during the two days of hearings.