Tunnel emergency warnings lost in stacks of pollution?

Sam Finch is a young child living in the Lane Cove precinct. One of his most telling comments about the danger of living near the Lane Cove Tunnel ventilation stacks was;

“We can get sick”.

Sam fears that unfiltered vehicle pollution will harm his community’s health. The Lane Cove Tunnel’s stacks are located near his school and home. In an emergency such as a fire in the tunnel, the stacks may pump out toxic fumes into the air he and many other residents breathe.

This could have devastating consequences and huge health impacts, yet there are no well-publicised emergency plans for communities near the tunnel’s stacks.

As a child Sam is considered at high risk of health problems caused by vehicle emissions. Asthmatics, the elderly, and those with cancer are also particularly at risk from pollution, which can have a devastating impact on a significant proportion of the community. This was proven by Dockery and Pope’s 1996 ‘Six Cities' study which associated increases in particulate matter, found in pollution from vehicle emissions and pumped out through tunnel stacks, with increases in mortality and hospital admissions. Many other studies have found that pollution harms health.

High concentrations of pollution threatened Melbourne’s Burnley community after a recent tunnel accident which killed three people. A fire ignited inside the tunnel, forcing the evacuation of motorists and pouring black smoke out of the tunnel’s stack.

This incident drew attention to tunnel safety procedures. However the focus has been on trapped motorists with little attention to the impact this smoke could have on people like Sam who live near the tunnel’s exhaust stacks and portals.

The Burnley tunnel has a similar ventilation system and design to the Lane Cove Tunnel, which has recently opened amid community concern that unfiltered pollution from the stacks causes health problems.

Elizabeth Court from Mums and Dads Against Stacks (MAD AS) has raised concerns about the location of the Lane Cove Tunnel’s stacks, which are situated in densely populated areas close to 58 primary schools and Royal North Shore Hospital. Pollution from the Lane Cove Tunnel stacks can travel in a two kilometer radius, affecting many.

Connector Motorways, the company that built and operate the Lane Cove Tunnel, the Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA), and Peter Manins, CSIRO’s Chief Research Scientist for Marine and Atmospheric Research, have deflected community concerns by insisting that pollution from stacks is expelled high in the air and diluted.

Connector Motorway’s Chief Executive Officer Ian Hunt said the tunnel’s ventilation system involves “drawing very large quantities of air into the tunnel and diluting the pollution that is generated with that air and then expelling them through the ventilation stations (stacks).”

However, Dr Ray Kearney, Lane Cove Tunnel Action Group Chairman and Associate Professor of Infectious Diseases and Immunology at Sydney University, and John Lee, Director of Major Projects from the Lane Cove Council, are concerned that photographs showing the Burnley tunnel stack pumping out black smoke in various directions prove that tunnel emissions don’t dissipate high up in the air.

Dr Kearney argues that ground strikes of plumes are common, which means that the flow of toxic emissions can hit residential buildings. “Dispersion from stacks is not straight up into the strato-atmosphere to disappear from sight. That is what the NSW RTA would have us believe. According to wind direction and strength, the plume rolls down to earth causing ground-strike and potential harm as the (Burnley tunnel accident) photos illustrated.”

John Lee agrees that the community should be concerned. “The Melbourne tunnel fire is a good example that the pollution isn’t going up in to the atmosphere.”

Mr. Hunt recognises the unpredictable nature of plume movement. “What happens when it comes out of the stacks does depend very significantly on meteorologically.”

Thus it cannot be assumed that fumes from the stacks will go up into the air and dilute. This puts people near the tunnel stacks in danger, especially in the case of a tunnel fire.

Dr Kearney said that people exposed to the pollution from the Burnley tunnel fire would definitely be in danger.

“What was recorded coming out of the stack, after the tragic (Burnley) accident, was a mix of all kinds of combustible materials.” Dr Kearney said. “Fuel tanks ignited so all the toxic pollutants of fossil fuel would be present including particle matter, toxic vapours including benzene and scores of other toxic vapours, plus burning combustibles such as rubber and plastics... it’s toxic.”

However, Connector Motorways do not have emergency plans for those outside the tunnel despite having 17 incident management plans for incidents in the tunnel, and well-publicized procedures for motorists in emergency situations. This is also despite recommended Australasian fire safety guidelines.

Of particular concern was drawing the smoke out of the tunnel quickly, a lesson learnt from previous tragedies such as the 1999 Mont Blanc tunnel fire in Sweden. Many of the 42 people who died in the Sweden fire did so from smoke inhalation as the ventilation system kept pumping fumes into the tunnel.

Mr. Hunt said that in the event of a fire the Lane Cove Tunnel’s ventilation system could be operated to deflect smoke away from trapped people in the tunnel. In a recent emergency simulation in the Lane Cove Tunnel, Mr. Hunt said the smoke moved away quickly.

However, Mr. Hunt also recognises the consequences this may have outside the tunnel.

“Unfortunately in an emergency such as that (Burnley accident) there will be fire smoke which will go out in the atmosphere. But it will be short lived. The nature for instance of the Burnley fire is that the fire itself was all over and done with in a matter of minutes.”

It only takes a few minutes of highly concentrated pollution to trigger asthma attacks or other health problems, and as the smoke is pumped out quickly to aid those inside there is little time for a reaction on the outside.

The emergency procedures may also involve portal emissions. This puts people near the openings of the tunnel in danger as smoke may be expelled at ground level.

Yet there is no widely publicised or easily accessible community emergency plan for these situations. As Dr Kearney said; “Nobody in the precinct has been advised of any action to take.”

MAD AS organizer and mother Alex Burke is concerned about the impact the emissions could have on her children, especially her asthmatic son. “If there was any kind of discharge from the tunnel from an accident such as fire, I would remove him at once and evacuate the area, though I don't think anything formal is in place.”

Yet Mr. Hunt believes there’s no point planning for a situation where people outside the tunnel would be exposed to toxic smoke because there is such a small risk.

“There’s no current plans but that’s because the risk of that is so small that there’s no need for a contingency plan.” Mr. Hunt said.

The risk may be small but the potential health impacts of neglecting the risk could be devastating. It just happened in Melbourne, and with no reported hospitalisations, the situation could’ve been worse.

Enzo Valente from Yarra Council, which includes the Burnley area, said that there were no reports of health impacts from the fumes on this occasion.

"It is my understanding that the ventilation and exhaust system performed to design with the exhaust plume dispersed so that there was minimum affect on the Burnley residents." Mr Valente said.

Dr Kearney warns that “a similar tragedy can and will occur in the LCT”, and that potential health impacts are a very real threat.

We should be prepared. It needs to be part of a risk assessment.

Mr. Hunt also said that emergency services are responsible for the community in these situations, but there is confusion about which emergency service is responsible.

Danielle Beh, a spokeswoman from NSW Health, said the in the event of a fire or smoke event from a road tunnel is determined according to the usual emergency response procedures, under the State Emergency and Rescue Management Act.

“In these circumstances the local health service functional area coordinator is notified by the lead combat agency and implements any necessary public health measures.” Ms Beh said.

Still no information has come out about what these measures would be.

Linda, Department of Environment and Conservation Information Officer, said that the NSW Fire Brigades are responsible for protecting the population from hazardous materials incidents. “If an evacuation is required due to toxic fumes, NSW Fire Brigades manage this.”

However, NSW Fire Brigades spokesperson Bernie Cinders said that the NSW Health Department is responsible.

“If they (NSW Health) decide evacuations are necessary, these would be managed by the NSW Police.” Mr. Cinders said. “The NSW Fire Brigades’ role involves detailed response plans developed between us, tunnel builders and operators to ensure that all necessary response protocols and actions occur in order to ensure the coordinated emergency management of any incident.”

Then why are there no response plans developed with the tunnel operators, and where does that leave the community in these situations?

Currently there are two main ways that the community could find out about dangerous levels of pollution, other than observing obvious clouds of smoke. They could check Connector Motorway’s website for air monitoring readings, but they would find already existing readings, by which stage people may already be affected. This is inadequate in emergency situations as many people don’t have access to the internet. You would also have to know what the levels mean, as it doesn’t specify when pollution levels are high.

In the event of an air quality reading exceeding set limits Connector Motorways are required to notify the air quality committee, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Planning and the RTA. But this process takes time.

The other way the public could find out is through emergency services who respond, assess and notify, which also takes time. How can they notify everyone quickly, especially those at risk, without a well-developed plan involving the community and tunnel operators?

Evidently residents near tunnel stacks have been neglected. Both the government and tunnel operators have a responsibility to protect the community. It is not acceptable that they have not sufficiently prepared for emergency situations.

By Kate Schneider

06-05-2007