Melbourne's EastLink project
EastLink opened in June 2008. It is Melbourne's second fully-electronic tollway, comprising about 45 kilometres of freeway-standard road connecting the city's eastern and south-eastern suburbs. EastLink runs between Donvale in Melbourne’s east, through Dandenong, to Frankston in the south-east of Melbourne. Around 40 per cent of Melburnians live in this corridor which includes important retail, commercial and industrial centres.
ConnectEast Group (“ConnectEast”) is the owner and operator of EastLink.
EPA Victoria continues to work with the community and industry on the EastLink project by:
- assessing and regulating the impact of the air, water and noise emissions from the EastLink tunnels; and
- evaluating environmental performance to ensure sound environmental management practices during the early operations period that commenced in June 2008.
This page provides information about the following topics:
- EPA Waste Discharge Licence
- Air quality and EastLink
- EPA's notification of air quality breaches
- Who can you speak to?
- EPA Works Approval
EPA Waste Discharge Licence EA63607
EPA issued ConnectEast with a Waste Discharge Licence in May 2008, setting out the conditions under which the tunnel environmental management systems are to operate.
Under this licence, ConnectEast is required to submit daily and quarterly air quality reports. These can be found at http://www.eastlink.com.au/page.aspx?cid=524.
Further information is available in EPA's Information Bulletin EPA Victoria and EastLink 
(PDF 81KB).
Air quality and EastLink
Information on the air quality around EastLink is available in the following EPA publications:
- Review of Air Quality Near EastLink (PDF 331KB)
- Air Quality and EastLink (PDF 207KB)
Information on motor vehicles and their impact on air quality is also available.
Air quality results are provided online daily at www.eastlink.com.au/page.aspx?code=AirCharts. The graphs are updated each day and a line on each graph shows the EPA Licence Limit where applicable.
Air quality monitoring reports prepared for the EPA every 3 months are available for download at http://www.eastlink.com.au/page.aspx?cid=533. These reports include data results, analysis, assessments and trends for in-tunnel, ventilation stack and ambient monitoring stations.
EPA's notification of air quality breaches
In the event of a breach of EPA licence limits, the EPA will be notified within 24 hours of the breach and a written report supplied within 7 days explaining the cause of the breach, action taken to address the breach and avoid recurrence of the breach.
Who can you speak to?
Queries relating to EPA's involvement in the EastLink Project or requests for further information should be directed to the EPA Information Centre.
Organisations with responsibility for delivery of the project can provide further information.
These include:
- The Linking Melbourne Authority (formerly SEITA - PDF 88KB) can provide information on the history, planning requirements and decision-making behind the building of EastLink. For more information visit www.linkingmelbourne.vic.gov.au.
EPA works approval
Prior to issuing the EastLink Tunnels Waste Discharge Licence EA63607, the EPA had issued a Works Approval enabling the construction and commissioning of the tunnels and their environmental management systems.
Obtaining copies of the works approval application documents
Summaries of the application can be obtained at $8 each from the EPA Information Centre. The documents are also available on CD upon request from the EPA Information Centre.
Download the works approval application
Works approval (PDF 14,273KB or 14.3MB)
Download the summary works approval application
Works approval application summary - low resolution (PDF 1007KB or 1MB)
Works approval application summary - high resolution (PDF 3968KB or 4MB)
Download annexures to the application
(Documents available as Adobe PDF files)
The documents are also available for public inspection free of charge from during business hours at the EPA Victoria Library.
Responses to Section 22 information requests (Notice 1)
(Documents available as Adobe PDF files)
| Document | Download size |
| Attachment A - Ventilation system design and monitoring | 15,218KB or 15.2MB |
| Attachment B - Noise | 2,111KB or 2.1MB |
| Attachment C - Air quality assessment | 16,599KB or 16.6MB |
| Attachment D - Surface water | 160KB |
| Attachment E - Groundwater | 1,555KB or 1.6MB |
Responses to Section 22 information requests (Notice 2)
(Documents available as Adobe PDF files)
| Document | Download size |
| Time Series Data for Carbon Monoxide (CO) | 1,548KB or 1.5MB |
| Time Series Data for Nitrogen Dioxode (NO2) | 1,527KB or 1.5MB |
| Time Series Data for particulate matter - PM10 | 935KB |
| Time Series Data for particulate matter - PM25 | 906KB |
Additional reports provided as appendices to this response can be viewed at the EPA Information Centre.
The decision to grant works approval
EPA granted works approval on 5 September 2006.
The basis for the decision was that the application had met the requirements of the Environment Protection Act 1970 and all relevant State environment protection policies.
In making its assessment, EPA undertook a rigorous assessment process including independent air quality modelling and extensive additional information requests of the applicant.
Key findings of the assessment were:
- the ventilation system is a best practice design for road tunnels;
- the worst-case emission scenario prepared by the applicant is robust, as it is based on in-tunnel air quality limits and observation of monitored data from the Burnley tunnel;
- the approach to modelling is appropriate for the assessment of stack emissions in a valley environment;
- emissions from the ventilation system will have a negligible impact on air quality and are within levels specified to protect peoples health (an example graph for particulate mater is illustrated in the Figure below);
- noise from the ventilation system meets existing Victorian standards for noise emissions from commercial premises;
EPA has required that water from the tunnel is discharged directly to sewer, pending assessment of waste water quality and its suitability or otherwise for disposal via a wetland to Wollert Creek. Water management is designed to enable protection of local waterways such as Wollert Creek and Mullum Mullum Creek.
Figure 1: Example stack impact on particulate matter for the worst affected receptor (annual average)
These findings are supported by experience with the CityLink project, where extensive monitoring has found no detectible change in air quality associated with tunnel emissions.
Whilst EPA’s assessment shows that air quality impacts are negligible, it is important that the community’s concerns are properly addressed. EPA is therefore requiring air quality monitoring in the tunnel, in the stacks and in the surrounding areas for a period of time before and after the tunnels are open for road traffic. The results of this monitoring are publicly available.
EPA’s response to public concerns
During the consultation period ConnectEast’s works approval was made available for public comment, a number of submissions were received and EPA sought additional information from ConnectEast. This additional information contributed significantly to the overall assessment of the works approval.
EPA is now satisfied that all relevant concerns and environmental requirements have been adequately addressed.
The key concerns raised, and EPA’s responses, are provided in an issues and response report. (PDF 150KB)
Works Approval document
The works approval document (PDF 476KB) provided approval to construct the plant and equipment associated with the ventilation system and other waste management equipment. This works approval was granted with conditions concerning the installation, environmental improvement plan provisions and ongoing monitoring.