When Catherine Oppel and her family moved into their apartment across from Melbourne’s Southern Cross Station two years ago, it didn’t take long to notice a powerful smell.
“I assumed it was possibly just car traffic … it was really unpleasant, and a strong, distinct smell which made me close the door,” she said.
A few weeks later, Ms Oppel found herself in Southern Cross Station to catch a train.
She said that was when she put it together — the smell was diesel from the idling long-distance V/Line trains.
Concerned about the air quality in her apartment, she bought an air purifier, which also measured the levels of some air pollutants.
That included the concentration of small particles of air pollution known as PM2.5, which can be inhaled and enter the bloodstream, harming human health.
She said on a still day, when there was a strong diesel smell, it often records readings of PM2.5 at around 40 µg/m3 (micrograms per cubic metre) on her balcony, and on occasions above 100 µg/m3.
Environment Protection Agency (EPA) Victoria says readings in this range, when they’re averaged over an hour, are “fair” to “very poor”.
Ms Oppel acknowledges her air purifier isn’t a scientifically calibrated device, but still, the readings worry her.
“Particularly because I’ve read that [air pollution] has a worse effect on children, and I have a 13-year-old child,” Ms Oppel said.
“It’s scary because it’s the air you breathe. You can’t do anything about it.”
Air pollution expert and associate professor Robyn Schofield said any PM2.5 reading above 100 µg/m3 was the equivalent of standing next to a fire and breathing in.
“And so that’s quite high level, and if sustained it’ll be having a big impact on them,” Dr Schofield said.
Report on air quality risks ‘not in public interest’, government says
Ms Oppel’s concerns come to light after the ABC revealed experts say air pollution levels at Southern Cross Station are harming human health and could be causing some of the “least clean” air in Melbourne.
After a nine-month long Freedom of Information battle, the Department of Transport and Planning released 12 years of air pollution data taken at the station to the ABC.
For the majority of the time period up until 2022, the station had been exceeding World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for nitrogen dioxide by more than 90 times in some areas, as well as exceeding Australian outdoor standards for the gas.
Nitrogen dioxide causes inflammation in the body, and can cause a range of health issues over both long and short-term exposures.
The ABC can reveal that while more than 500 pages of reports were released under the FOI, some documents were withheld.
One V/Line document titled Risks Associated with Diesel Exhaust Emissions at Southern Cross Station was refused, in part because the department found it wouldn’t be in the public interest to release it.
Another, V/Line report called PTV emissions report, wasn’t released because it was deemed “contrary to public interest as the information will misinform the general public on the current state of V/Lines carbon emissions”.
Clare Walter, an honorary research fellow at the University of Melbourne who researches air pollution, said it was a paternalistic response.
“That it wasn’t in the public’s interest to know what they were being exposed to, or in the worker’s interest, I think is concerning,” Ms Walter said.
“I think it’s democracy, and we should have transparency with data that pertains to people’s personal health.”
Ventilation risks worsened by missing extractor fans
Experts say one of the ways to reduce health harms to commuters and workers at the station would be to improve ventilation at the station.
But a key opportunity to do just that was missed more than a decade ago, the ABC has uncovered.
In 2011, station operators Civic Nexus pledged in a news article by The Age to install extractor fans in the station, following complaints from workers about air quality.
The Department of Transport also put aside $25,000 for the works.
But the fans were never installed.
Neither Civic Nexus, the Department of Transport and Planning nor the Minister for Public Transport would answer the ABC’s questions about why the works never happened.
Ms Walter said the decision not to install the fans would likely have harmed both commuters and workers.
“People would have been exposed to much higher levels than they otherwise would have, for over a decade,” she said.
“We know that [the levels of nitrogen dioxide in the station] are associated with significant health impacts.
“So it’s very likely that some people that are sensitive would have had asthma exacerbations, that would otherwise have been avoided.”
She said workers would also have been put at higher risk of health impacts such as heart disease and cardiac events.
In a statement, Civic Nexus spokesperson Nick Easy said fans were never part of the original design for the station.
“The very design of the wave roof, with several openings, is aimed to extract fumes and heat via natural air flow,” Mr Easy said.
“Emissions are unavoidable in a complex transport interchange like Southern Cross but we have a range of measures in place to both monitor and, working with our transport providers, reduce overall emissions.”
NO2 levels in Southern Cross did improve when the station upgraded its Building Management System in 2022, which improved air flow in the bus terminal.
Both Civic Nexus and the Department of Transport and Planning said they took the safety of staff and passengers at Southern Cross station seriously, and along with the government were investigating ways to further improve ventilation in the station precinct.
“Air quality sampling undertaken at Southern Cross Station has repeatedly shown levels within recognised limits for an environment comparable to a working bus and train station,” a spokesperson for the Department of Transport and Planning said.
Air quality still falls within legislated limits
While the nitrogen dioxide levels in Southern Cross exceed Australian outdoor standards and WHO guidelines, the FOI data shows they appear to fall within legislated exposure limits set by Safe Work Australia.
Those levels are much higher than both the WHO and Australian outdoor guidelines, and Safe Work Australia has recommended they change due to evidence around health harms.
If they did change, it is likely Southern Cross station would fail to meet legislated benchmarks.
Catherine Oppel hopes there’s an investigation to determine what action should be taken to improve the air quality at the station.
Ms Oppel said while she understood air quality wouldn’t be pristine living on the edge of the city, she felt this particular problem could be mitigated.
“I do believe that if the if the trains weren’t there idling that our air pollution levels would be a lot less,” she said.
The ABC asked Victorian Public Transport Minister Gabrielle Williams for an interview, but she was unavailable.
A V/Line spokesperson said the organisation had undertaken a range of measures to improve air quality, including reducing train and coach idling times, upgrading train engines to reduce emissions, and rolling out more modern VLocity trains.
Source: ABC Stateline
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